


Vignettes Part Two

by TheSightlessSniper



Series: Vignettes [2]
Category: Kuroshitsuji | Black Butler
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Non-binary character, Original Character(s), Other, Out of Character, Pregnancy, Short Chapters, Unplanned Pregnancy, Violence, other Kuroshitsuji characters - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-15
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-09-24 18:54:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 20,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9780521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSightlessSniper/pseuds/TheSightlessSniper
Summary: Wedding planning is in full swing. What will life throw towards our happy little group?





	1. Arguments

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to wait until I was completely finished the story to start posting, but now I feel like I need a little nudge to do that last chapter or so.
> 
> This one actually focuses on a few more of the characters; I had particular plans for a few of my Kuro babies, and this AU gave me the opportunity to play around!
> 
> Hope this was actually worth the wait, dear readers- it has been kicking my ass for months!

He would admit that they were not the perfect, flawless couple.

Even as much as they loved each other, thought the world of each other, they did have their differences, and argued just like any other couple in the world.

It just seemed to be happening more during the planning of the wedding.

‘No.’

‘Ciel, please?’

‘No, we’re not having a first dance! I thought we weren’t going in for all the traditional wedding stuff?’

‘It’s the only thing I want that’s traditional! Why are you making this so hard?’

They’ve been engaged for nearly six months. It was hard for him to believe it had been so long since it had happened; the fairy lights in the tree, the ring, the set-up, the happy squealing of the next door neighbour’s daughter and her friends as they provided in-real-life fan service for their boys love addiction with delighted kisses. Every inch of the memory was precious.

Except it meant actually _planning_ a wedding. And that’s from where the problem stemmed.

Exasperated, Ciel sighs. It’s the same argument that’s peppered their conversations for the last week and a half. It’s not that he just doesn’t want to dance. It’s that he _can’t_ dance without becoming a walking disaster, and it’s something he would rather keep out of their wedding if at all possible. The last thing he wants is for one or both of them to end up in the emergency room.

With pleading eyes, he turns to face his fiancé again. ‘Sebastian, please. I don’t want to make an idiot of myself at our wedding, of all days. I don’t want to embarrass you, and I don’t want to embarrass myself.’

‘I don’t care about any of that…I just want to dance with the man I love on our wedding day.’ As he turns away to the kitchen, a hurt look passes over the other’s face, and Ciel’s stomach drops.

They had both agreed on several things for the wedding; there would be lots of cake, at least one pie, and lots of sex on their wedding night. Sebastian, knowing Joker could now carry on the name Michaelis himself, stated outright that he wants to take Ciel’s surname. They’d both instantly said that a church wedding was too formal; neither of them were particularly religious, and there weren’t many churches in the area that would marry two men anyway. And despite Sebastian’s joking around with Lizzie, Sieglinde, and Ciel’s mother and aunt, Ciel wouldn’t be wearing a wedding dress on the day.

The only thing they really, really couldn’t agree on was the first dance, and whether there should be one at all.

He’d been so agreeable about everything else, from Ciel’s insistence on chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, to the choice of colours. They had been right of course; Rachel had already planned out everything in black, blue, and silver, and they were both completely content with that choice.

A pang of guilt rattles him. It really is the only thing Sebastian is insisting on.

Ciel trails into the kitchen, walking up behind Sebastian standing at the sink. His head hangs, a small frown marring his beautiful features as he washes some of the dishes from the night before. He pauses as Ciel reaches around his stomach and hugs him close from behind.

It’s the one thing Sebastian has asked for, and if it makes him happy, then he’ll do it. ‘I’ll take dance lessons.’

The man turns in his arms, incredulousness written across his face. ‘Really?’

‘Really. You’ve gone along with so much of what we’ve been planning already. The least I can do is give you a first dance as husband and…well, husband.’

The frown lessens. ‘I swear our first dance won’t be anything too embarrassing.’

‘The song, maybe, but my dancing will be,’ he snorts back.

A smile from Sebastian, and the air clears.

As Sebastian kisses him and turns back to the dishes, Ciel rolls his eyes. _One dance can’t be too awful_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are more tags to follow...but I really don't want to ruin a few of the surprises I have up my sleeve in this one. :P


	2. Absent In-laws

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I made everyone wait so long...have a second short chapter on the house.

Despite getting along well with Ciel’s parents, Sebastian is yet to mention anything about inviting his own parents along to the wedding at all.

Ciel’s yet to even meet them.

He’s been secretive about anything to do with family for as long as they’ve known each other. Birthdays, Christmases…he’s never brought them up, but Ciel had deduced long ago that the phone calls Sebastian takes alone on the front porch are to at least one member of his mysteriously absent family.

It’s upon ending one of these calls one Saturday morning that Sebastian delivers a revelation. ‘My dad’s in prison for assaulting a police officer.’

If he’d been chewing anything at the time, Ciel might have choked. ‘Prison?’

‘Yeah…it’s not how it sounds, believe me.’

For the first time in a long time, Sebastian has a look of worry on his face, reminiscent of the one he wore prior to their first sexual encounter.

He continues. ‘When I was seventeen, my mom found out that I’m gay. She was very traditionally Catholic; church every Sunday, saying grace before a meal...she even sent me to bible camp one summer when I was a kid. So when I told her I wasn’t interested in girls, she wanted me to go to this out-of-state conversion institution over the summer to…be fixed. And when I refused, she threw me out of the house.’

His voice is strong, but his posture betrays him; Sebastian tenses, looking down at the counter and staring into the cup that once held coffee as he speaks once more. ‘My dad was always kind of lapsed when it came to his beliefs. He made a few mistakes in his younger years, which led to Joker being conceived, and then a year later, he met my mom and reined it all in. He loved her so much, but the minute she threw me out, my dad left her without looking back. Said if she couldn’t accept her son for what he is, then she didn’t deserve to be a mother.’

Sebastian glances up, and Ciel nods. ‘Go on.’

‘So one night, my dad was in a bar with some friends, and he overheard someone calling me and “my kind” a whole bunch of homophobic slurs…it just happened to be an off-duty cop.’ An audible gulp. ‘You get the drill; small-town police officers pretty much get to say what they want, and their friends will back them up on it. The cop got a slap on the wrists for discriminating language, and my dad got jail time for defending me.’

Ciel reaches for one of Sebastian’s hands, linking the long fingers with his own. It’s yet another thing that his beloved has had to go through, another thing he wishes he could erase entirely.

The fingers squeeze back. ‘He gets out soon, but from the sounds of it, not before the wedding.’

His tone is heartbreaking. Standing up, Ciel throws his arms around Sebastian, pulling him close and rubbing his back as the first hints of sniffling starts. ‘I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.’

A shake of the head. ‘It’s not your fault. My dad’s not even normally a violent person. He just lost it that one time because of what happened with my mom. I’ve told him all about you. And when Joker went to meet him for the first time, he told him some stuff about you too.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, and he thinks you sound like a total catch.’

Ciel chuckles. ‘He sounds like a great dad. I’d really like to meet him.’

Pulling back, Sebastian looks thoughtful. ‘The prison’s out-of-state, so I can’t visit often…but I’m going there next month. Did you want to maybe tag along?’

As much as Ciel doesn’t want to go anywhere near a prison, he thinks about how different his experiences were. When he had come out, his family and friends had all stood by him. His father had blatantly said that there had been a long-held bet between himself and Ciel’s aunt, and she had won by a matter of months; if he had waited until the summer instead of spring to reveal his orientation, Vincent would have been the one pocketing the cash. Although not involved in the bet, his mother had been equally supportive from the get-go; his first boyfriend had almost made Rachel flip into wedding mode right there and then.

He’s been surrounded in love and support his entire life.

And Sebastian had been shunned by one of the two people who should have been there for him at his most vulnerable.

As much as he doesn’t want to even touch the inside of a prison, Ciel knows on the inside that he really wants to meet the man who stood so staunchly by his son in his time of need.

Hiding any apprehension, he looks firmly up into Sebastian’s eyes and nods. ‘Let’s do it. Let’s go visit your dad.’


	3. His Father-In-Law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciel meets the man who raised his fiance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realised if I start doing what I did with the first one and post a chapter a day, I'll run out fairly quick. Overall, there are a few less chapters than the first one, and some vary wildly in length.
> 
> I'll see how it goes. Meanwhile, here's another chapter!

As he shrugs his jacket off his shoulders, Sebastian is obviously familiar with the routine of what he can take and what he has to leave behind, but Ciel needs a hand as he automatically pockets his phone.

‘They’ll make you give it up at the door, so you might as well put it in the glove box,’ the other informs.

‘What can I take?’

‘Almost nothing. They worry that you’ll be slipping things like drugs, or things that can be used as weapons or to make weapons…it’s very strict.’

They quickly clear the metal detectors, then are both subjected to an awkward pat-down by a nervous-looking cop with curly brown hair, glasses, and an abundance of face freckles. When the timid man pats down his thighs, Ciel has to bite back a laugh; he’s sure Sebastian actually _growls_ when the freckled, bespectacled guard’s hand lingers for a few seconds around Ciel’s slightly bulging right knee, fondling at a temporary bandage from pulling a muscle during his dance lessons through the thick denim.

A few minutes later, sat in an uncomfortable orange plastic chair, Ciel makes to crack into a can of soda when he becomes acutely aware of staring in his direction. Well, more like leering; one of the inmates sat with his wife winks as she turns to check the clock on the wall, vulgarly grabbing himself and biting his lip. _Does he really think that kind of action could seduce anyone?_

Sebastian must have felt him tense up, because the hand around his tightens. ‘I won’t let anyone touch you,’ he whispers. His voice, rich, strong and protective, reassures him. He was safe with the guards here, and he was safe with Sebastian.

His fiancé suddenly straightens up, a small smile worming onto his face. ‘Hey dad.’

‘Been too long, Seb.’ A greying man approaches the table and throws his arms around his fiancé without a hint of hesitation, and there’s no doubt of the resemblance.

There’s plenty of wrinkles from laughter and age, but Ciel can see exactly where Sebastian got his looks from; despite the stress of his sentence, the older man is incredibly handsome, friendly faced, and has the air of a much younger man as he hugs his son welcomingly and plants a kiss on his forehead. The eyes, the hair…everything down to the defined jaw and high cheekbones all seemed to come from his father, with the only difference being Sebastian’s slighter build.

If this was what Sebastian would look like a few decades from now, Ciel had zero complaints about that; his future father-in-law is a total silver fox.

The older Michaelis blinks at him for a few moments before it seems to register, and then his face lights up. ‘Ahh…you must be the young man Seb tells me so many wonderful things about-‘

‘Dad!’ Instantly Sebastian’s face glows red, and Ciel can’t help but choke out a laugh.

The older continues, smile widening. ‘I’m Cassius Michaelis, your future father-in-law.’

The conversation flows freely, lightheartedly between the three of them. Over the sodas from the barely functional vending machine, Ciel learns that Cassius isn’t just a keen reader and old movie enthusiast; he’s also a skilled pianist. ‘Been a while, but up until Seb was about twelve, he used to sit on top of this old, out-of-tune one we had in our basement and beg me to play Queen until my fingers cramped up. He took up the violin at thirteen.’

With such warmth and humour about him, suddenly it’s very hard to imagine that he had once beaten someone to within an inch of their life.

Ciel shakes the thought off, and snorts. ‘I tried playing violin back in school. My teacher was the one who told me to quit because she wanted to keep her hearing, and for me to “stop murdering Mozart”.’

‘I’ll bet you have other admirable talents, though,’ Cassius suggests. His eyebrows raise a few times suggestively, and he can feel his own face filling with heat.

Sebastian slaps his father’s wrist. ‘Jesus, dad!’

‘I’m just saying, son, there are other, possibly more useful talents to have than pulling a bow across some strings.’

‘There are times I can barely believe you used to be a devout Catholic boy.’

‘Oh hush, every Catholic boy out there is just a regular boy getting told sex is a dirty word.’

‘And evidently, they grow into men who embarrass their sons by insinuating things about their sexual prowess,’ Sebastian groans, hiding his blush behind his hair.

Despite his own embarrassment, Ciel chuckles along with Cassius. ‘If you really want to know, he never has any complaints-‘

‘God, Ciel, really?’

‘-about my pancakes,’ he finishes, smirking widely. If he wasn’t red-faced to begin with, Sebastian turns as bright as a ripe strawberry before him and further ducks behind his hair like a moody teenager.

Between the laughter and story-sharing, the trio barely realise how much time has passed when the buzzer goes. Sebastian’s face drops a little, but he stands and gives his father another warm hug goodbye. ‘I missed you. I’ll try and come see you more often.’

‘Missed you too, son…I’ll call you in a few days.’

Ciel knows he’s not meant to catch the whispered words, but his ears pick up the end of the goodbye anyway:

‘ _Take care of him like he takes care of you_.’

When Cassius moves to embrace him too, he hugs tightly back, voice dropping to a murmur. ‘Thank you.’

The whisper back is just as low. ‘For what?’

‘For being there when his mother wasn’t. For being the father he needed.’

As he lets go and they turn to leave, Ciel doesn’t miss the single tear that slides down Cassius’ cheek, wiped away just as quickly as it comes.

 

He decides to wait until he and Sebastian get back to the hotel room to drop the bombshell.

’I want to move the wedding until your dad is out.’

It’s been in his head the entire time. As soon as he’d seen the friendly back-and-forth, the deep father-son bond between his future father-in-law and his fiance, Ciel had been mentally calculating how much trouble it would be to shift the dates around. The invitations hadn’t been sent out yet; that at least would make it a tiny bit easier. They hadn’t yet booked the venue, although they’d have to do that soon anyway. It wouldn’t be the most difficult thing in the world to arrange. Indeed; pushing the date back a little bit might help them get the place they want before anybody else swipes that day.

Sebastian blinks back at him, eyebrows pulled high in shock. ‘Are you sure?’

He shrugs. ’Why not? He’s family, and I want you to have your family there, too.’

The words are all the right ones; Sebastian dips down and kisses him again, deeper and longingly.

They never do make it to dinner.

 


	4. Wedding Aesthetics

Lizzie drags him to an actual tailor for his wedding outfit.

He shakes his head at one of the designs. ‘That one would make me look like I’d stepped straight out of 1885. No fucking way.’

‘But Ciel, you’ll look amazing in it!’ She throws back, his reaction procuring an actual pout from her pink-painted lips.

‘It is rather becoming of you, particularly in that shade of blue,’ an accented voice agrees.

He’s not really sure why Lizzie dragged Soma along to this process. He was so sure she was going to get Sebastian to come with them; he has excellent taste in clothes, and can somehow make even the most casual of outfits appear put-together and professional.

Instead, he’s being pawed at repeatedly by a woman named Nina, who seems to be in adoration of his short stature and tiny waist while being partial to being in physical contact with his skin wherever possible.

As talented as the woman is meant to be, her lack of boundaries is both uncomfortable and unwelcome; he swears he feels her hand slide unnecessarily high up the inside of his thigh as she takes more measurements.

As Lizzie helps the touchy-feely tailor pick out accessories, the young Indian man steps around him and straightens the temporary bow pinned to his collar. ‘Cobalt works well with your colouring, Ciel.’

‘Yeah, but all these ruffles-‘ he glares down at the handfuls of fabric the Hopkins woman has buttoned him up in, ‘-make me look like a Victorian ten-year-old. A Victorian ten-year-old girl, to be exact.’

‘Victorian is in, darling boy!’ The flamboyant woman parades back in with another outfit in the crook of her arm. There’s a host of unsightly ones; bright obnoxious purple, one with a lot of red that looks scarily reminiscent of the colours his aunt wants at her own wedding, and even an obscenely tight outfit that would leave absolutely zero to the imagination with any part of his body.

And then, buried under these, there was another less ruffled, more structured blue one. The hints of black and sliver embroidered into the sleeve blink prettily back at him, and he smiles and nods. ‘The dark blue one looks good.’

A few moments later, he’s pinned up in the new outfit, and much more comfortable. Cobalt, midnight blue, black, silver…the combination shouldn’t work; indeed, black and midnight blue together should have been considered a fashion faux-pas. But on him, it’s wonderful, and somehow everything brings out the best in him; the cut of the jacket and well-fitted trousers somehow make him look taller, and the flawlessly embroidered corset that he was originally apprehensive about brings out his masculinity instead of masking it.

Nina and Lizzie gush, Soma grins gleefully, and he turns to look at himself in the mirror to see a perfect balance of classic wedding attire and structured victorian theatrics. 

This is, without a doubt, _definitely_ the outfit, and he can’t wait for Sebastian to see him in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a short one, but the one after this is longer!


	5. One Kick-ass Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A gathering that turns into a party, and Ciel plays matchmaker.

Laughter and music echoes loudly through the hallway from the living room. It’s Friday night, and what had started off as chilling out with a few drinks has turned into a fully-fledged party with all of their friends involved.

On the couch, Ciel lounges lazily between Sebastian’s legs, back pressed to his abdomen and giggling as he sips at his beer and listens to one of Alois’ tales. ‘You can’t be serious.’

A head-shake. Alois grimaces. ‘He had a clap-on light system installed. Every time he thrusted and our skin met, the lights kept turning on and off. It was like a fucking disco. Literally a FUCKING disco.’

At Alois claps his hands for effect, Sebastian grabs a pillow from behind his head and screams in laughter into the cotton. Ciel isn’t far behind, cackling for all he’s worth, and even Alois himself doubles over on the floor in unrestrained howls.

Since beginning to look after himself and fight his anorexia, they’ve all noticed the difference in Alois. The healthy level of confidence that Claude had stripped from him had returned in full force.

Well…except where emotions are concerned. He’s still hesitating to let anyone get too close- male, female, or otherwise -in that department.

Beast and Joker are all over each other in the chair across from them. Luka and Sieglinde are pressed up against one of the walls, hands going all over the place. Soma and Lizzie disappeared up to Ciel’s old room, now a spare bedroom for impromptu crashers, half an hour ago. Mey-Rin had shocked all of them by turning up hand in hand with none other than Nina Hopkins, the tailor working on their wedding outfits, and has to keep slapping her hand away from her breasts at regular intervals…which they suspect that Mey-Rin really doesn’t mind all that much in actuality as they grope and fondle at each other tipsily against the frame of the door.

Nearly everyone around Alois, including Sebastian and himself, is in a couple. And while he hides it well, Ciel has come to suspect that it bothers him a lot more than he lets on at times like this.

Alois disappears off to the bathroom and a moment after that, one of Sebastian’s colleagues comes up to them. Thompson sinks down into the fraction of spare room next to Ciel’s legs and cracks open his drink with the bottle opener on his keys. ‘A few quiet drinks, huh?’

Sebastian shrugged. ‘We know how to start a party.’

‘And the best parties are the ones you’re not expecting,’ Ciel added, bumping his bottle against his fiance’s.

Thompson laughs. ‘Don’t I know it. Are any of your friends single?’

‘You looking?’ Ciel smirks.

‘I haven’t had a date since August last year. I’m not a one-nighter guy though. I’m ready for a real relationship. Long term.’

Ciel’s mind whirs. ‘You’re bisexual, right?’

Thompson shrugs. ‘More poly, but sure, I date both guys and girls.’

Sebastian already knows where he’s going. Ciel lifts himself out of his embrace and trails through into the kitchen with Thompson in tow. Alois has returned from the bathroom and is pouring himself another drink from the iced jug of cocktails in the fridge when they approach.

The blond smiles brightly as he draws nearer. ‘Newsflash- Bard may not be able to cook for shit, but he can make a jug of mojitos that will knock your socks off…’ the sentence dies off when Thompson comes into view.

Ciel could admit that Thompson wasn’t bad looking. With mussed up purple hair, bright brown eyes, and dressed in a well-fitted shirt, waistcoat, loosened tie, and suit pants from coming over straight from work, the man does look great. Not a patch on his fiance, but then again, nothing could beat Sebastian in his eyes.

When Alois stares up at him, however, it’s like life has been breathed into him. He watches the cyan irises flick to Thompson’s eyes and lock in place. The smile that had been previously reserved for cocktails softens, and he holds out a hand in greeting. ‘Hi. I’m Alois.’

The other takes it, smiling back. ‘Thompson. Did I hear something about mojitos?’

When Ciel back-steps out of the room, his friend’s focus is too far elsewhere to notice he’s even gone.

 

The next morning, Ciel wakes before anyone else does.

Leaving the sanctuary of his and Sebastian’s room, he walks around slowly, assessing the damage from the party. The clean-up later is going to be a bitch; there’s bottles, glasses, and empty cans everywhere.

Lizzie and Soma haven’t re-emerged from the spare room since they disappeared into it the previous night, but the giggles, gasping, and squeaks of bedsprings he hears from behind the door let him know he really doesn’t want to open it just yet. A dishevelled Finny is passed out on the landing, arms around Sebastian’s cat as she dozes comfortably on his chest. A peek out of the landing window tells him that Beast and Joker are asleep on the backseat of their car in the driveway, snuggled up in a pilfered blanket. Bard has disappeared entirely along with Nina and Mey-Rin, and he presumes that Alois probably left with Sieglinde and Luka at some point-

‘No really, I cracked a tooth on one of his burgers because they were burned that bad.’

‘Wow. I had no idea Bard was _that_ terrible at cooking.’ Laughter follows, and Ciel stops dead in the middle of the hall, heart suddenly pounding in excitement. _Ohmygodohmygodohmygod_.

Those two voices. Alois and Thompson are still chatting downstairs.

Excitedly, Ciel tiptoes down the stairs to the living room door, the voices growing nearer until they’re literally next to his ear as he eavesdrops.

Could his matchmaking efforts have actually worked?

‘I’m no better, so I’m no-one to talk,’ Alois comments.

A low chuckle. ‘I’m one of triplets, and I cook for my two brothers a lot. You should let me cook for you sometime.’

Ciel hesitates next to the door, back pressed against the wall. _Come on, Alois…give him a shot_.

‘…yeah, maybe.’ The reply is laced with blatant apprehension, and Ciel frustratedly fights the urge to slam his palm into his forehead.

’I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so forward-‘

‘No, really, it’s not…I just-‘

‘Not interested?’

There’s a pause, and a sigh. ‘It’s definitely not that. It’s just, I got out of a bad relationship last year that really fucked me up, and I’m a recovering anorexic. You don’t want to deal with that.’

The tension in the living room seeps into the hallway. Ciel silently gulps.

‘So?’

‘…huh?’

‘I like you, Alois. We all have issues.’ Fabric shifting, couch springs creaking. ‘We just spent all night talking, and that’s not something I can do with a lot of people, especially someone I just met. Did you really think something like that would put me off when there’s so much more to you than that?’

Silence. There’s a heavy breath that suddenly hitches…

And then the sound of lips meeting.


	6. Breakdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something with the wedding plans goes awry, and Sebastian does for Ciel what any good fiance would do.
> 
> Distract him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm now panicking because my brain won't let me finish this fic, and there will be a point where if I don't finish it soon, I will run out of chapters.
> 
> So of course, I'm starting to watch something new on Netflix and ignore the problem...

Ciel can still vividly remember the day that he first saw Sebastian break down in the midst of a bulimia relapse. On that day, Ciel had pulled him away from the edge.

So when he breaks down from panic that the wedding won’t be perfect for Sebastian, it’s no surprise that it’s Sebastian himself that brings him back down to earth.

The taller wraps his arms around him that evening, pulling his back to his chest and resting a slightly pointed chin on his shoulder. ‘Honey, you need to chill.’

‘We have no venue! What are we going to do?’

It had all been arranged. The hotel where they’d spend their wedding night in an extravagant honeymoon suite (paid for by one enthusiastic and filthy-minded aunt). The ceremony would be in a prettily decorated park that had a little stone archway perfect for an ‘altar’, the same place Rachel had accepted Vincent’s proposal of marriage so many years before. With the new date in mind, the venue had finally been booked as well; a delightful hotel with a live-in cat for Sebastian to fawn over, and with the perfect reception area for a wedding after-party.

Or it would have been, until they had gotten the call; a mix-up with a change in staff had led to an unfortunate double-booking…and since they had been the ones who had been pencilled in second, they had been the ones whose booking had been shafted.

Ciel palms his eyes, pushing back stressed tears that want to spring forth. ‘Where are we going have the reception now? Everywhere else will be booked up by now.’

Sebastian shrugs, hugging him closer. ‘I don’t mind. As long as I have you.’

‘Sap.’

‘I’m your sap though. And I’ll be your sap forever.’

‘If we can find a venue for the reception.’

He’s suddenly spun in Sebastian’s arms, bright eyes flickering. ‘…what about your parent’s house?’

‘Huh?’

‘Would they mind? It’s practically a mansion. They have that beautiful garden, that big room that used to be a ballroom in the nineteenth century, and we know they know how to throw a party. The park where we’re having the ceremony is literally just around the corner from there, too.’

His parents wouldn’t mind at all. They’d offered up the house as a place for wedding guests to crash should they need somewhere, and had already graciously agreed to house Sebastian’s father for the weekend; a conversation both had been dreading. But as the situation had been explained, Vincent had barely batted an eyelid.

Over dinner, glass of wine in hand, Vincent had shrugged as if it had been nothing at all. ‘If someone had said that shit to Ciel, I’d have probably done the same-‘

‘VINCENT!’ Rachel spluttered, mortified.

‘Rach, sweetie. Come on.’

At that, Rachel had blushed, rolled her eyes at her husband, and quietly conceded that she too would have dropped their ass without a second thought.

Just like that, the latest conversation neither Ciel nor Sebastian had been looking forward to had come to a quick and clean conclusion without anyone losing their cool.

Ciel bites his lip thoughtfully. His parents’ manor _is_ beautiful… ‘It would solve the venue problem. And save everyone a load of money on taxis to get there.’

‘And when the party is over, we could go for a romantic, late night walk to that beautiful hotel Angelina booked for us, and I can pound the imprint of your body into every available surface.’

The low appreciative hum that accompanies the spoken thought sends a shiver through him. Damn his lover and his sexy voice. ‘Mm, Sebastian…’

‘I’ll make you moan so loud that the entire hotel hears you.’

‘Ngh, tell me more.’

Sebastian turns him and pulls him closer, lips almost touching. ‘I’ll kiss every inch of you I can reach, suck and bite your neck until I leave marks so everyone knows you’re mine. And then, when you’re _almost_ there, when I have you so close to the edge you could fall off at any second-‘ the lips wander to his ear, ‘-I’m going to press you down onto that bed and ride you.’

The words have their intended effect. Ciel’s mind has already wandered away from his worries to more appealing things, like Sebastian’s hips rising up and falling back down against him, engulfing the rapidly growing erection pressing against the front of his jeans with gasped moans and whimpers…or maybe it’s the idea of having him fuck him into every available part of the room until he’s a screaming mess of gelatinous bones, quaking limbs, and fluttering eyelids. He’s not sure. It could be both.

He groans, rubbing enthusiastically against his smirking fiance. ‘God, I want you.’

‘Where?’

Definitely both. ‘Bed, until I can’t walk.’

‘Oh, you can count on that.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smut hits next chapter...and it's probably my smuttiest to date.
> 
> Still probably tame in comparison to what stuff is already on AO3, but still...it's definitely not safe for work.


	7. Passionate Distractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciel gets thoroughly distracted, and Sebastian tries out something new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Smut.
> 
> Yeah.

As soon as their bedroom door shuts, Sebastian throws him on his back onto the sheets and starts tearing his clothes away.

Ciel grins widely as he watched his future husband move. His hands deal so roughly with his clothing, but so gently with his suddenly exposed skin. His underwear disappears down the side of the bed, and his pants land in a heap next to the dresser as his legs part automatically, feet braced against the bed and hips tilting up at an angle in wait.

Sebastian is desperate enough not to bother to strip; his own trousers are enthusiastically pulled undone, lengthy erection tantalisingly poking out above his rucked-down underwear. 

They’d realised early on in their relationship that they weren’t the biggest fan of blow-jobs. It was nice occasionally, like when one of them was too tired or sore from a particularly enthusiastic sex session the night before. But something to do with the care required to not accidentally jam a tooth into a particularly sensitive area, and both having sensitive gag reflexes, made it seem a lot more like work than an enjoyable activity for the both of them, and they often saw fit to forego it in favour of bodily or hand contact to get each other going.

Now, though, with Sebastian leaning to reach for the lubricant to prepare him, letting his length bouncing in front of his face in nearly painful rigidity, Ciel finds himself salivating. He wants Sebastian everywhere; jerking into his hands, sliding between his lips, thrusting inside his body and hitting his sweet spot over and over, riding his own stiffened length enthusiastically while stroking himself and begging for release. Something in him suddenly wishes Sebastian could split into several identical bodies and fulfil the momentary fantasy of being surrounded, of encompassing Sebastian and _being_ encompassed by him.

Even if he couldn’t have all of it at once, he would definitely have it all at some point…starting at his mouth. Without a hint of warning, Ciel covertly smirks and lifts away from the mattress to lean up towards his destination.

The ensuing yelp is loud, ending in a moan. Red eyes widening and staring down at him, it’s wholly evident Sebastian wasn’t expecting _that_. ‘Fuck! Wha-’

‘Mhh-‘ he pulls away, licking his lips, then smiles, ‘-like that?’

‘God, Ciel, your mouth is-‘

Ciel rolls his hand up and down the length of flesh, sucking at the head and tongue flicking teasingly into the opening, and effectively cuts Sebastian’s sentence short. The ensuing whine and whimper are music to his ears, and he enjoys it while it lasts; after a scant minute of sucking, Sebastian pulls his head away with a slightly rough jerk to his hair and a drawn-out hiss.

His voice is near breathless as he speaks. ‘Any more of that, and I won’t be able to give you what you want.’

Legs inched even further apart, pelvis pulled up off the mattress, Ciel’s mouth falls slack as Sebastian quickly prepares them both and slides into him, setting a delightfully swift pace from the get-go. Ciel is so turned on, it’s barely a minute before he comes; the first time he’s ever managed to come solely from internal stimulation.

Rather than satisfying his craving, though, it leaves him wanting even more.

Sebastian freezes, hips stilling as he smiles down at him. ‘Already?’

‘God, Sebastian, don’t stop. Don’t stop now!’ He growls back. Sebastian fails to start moving again, and he reaches forward, grappling for the taller’s buttocks and pushing back on him for emphasis.

Still nothing. His lover smirks down at him, eyes practically aglow. ‘How bad do you want it, Ciel? How bad do you want me?’

‘You’re such an asshole- when you’re next begging me to fuck you, I’ll make you fucking wait for it!’

‘We both know that’s bullshit, honey.’

All patience is gone. Hands grab on to Sebastian’s still-clothed shoulders, yanking him down so they’re nose to nose. ‘Sebastian, baby, I love you with all of my heart. But finish what you started, or I’m going to flip us over, tie your arms up, and leave you with a hard-on while I jerk off in front of you.’

That does it. The wide smile reaches devilish proportions, and with no warning Ciel is deftly flipped onto his front before his lover plunges back into him.

It’s not often they do it in this position; when Sebastian takes him, Ciel loves seeing his face change as he gets close to orgasm. When Ciel takes him, Sebastian latches onto his collarbone, his throat, his shoulders with teeth and tongue and lips, complaining a little when he can’t. He’s not only a cuddler, but big on kissing and touching, and it always shows in the marks on their skin the next day; scratches, love-bites, bruises from gripping on to each other so hard in the heat of the moment.

But this primal and animalistic position- forehead to the sheets and buttocks raised as the other deepens their hold -is pleasant in its own way; Sebastian’s thrusts reach deep, sending every pleasurable sensation straight through him and have him shuddering right through to his bones.

He can still as clearly as day remember the timid figure from the first time Sebastian had taken him; the scared, confidence-drained man that had been nearly too afraid to touch him for fear of causing him pain. The man who, in later encounters, had still drawn out their foreplay to bring him to the brink just in case he couldn’t bring him to a satisfactory orgasm without it.

That’s all a distant memory. Now, his husband-to-be is wild, fervent, earnest in his physicality each time they make love. He knows him inside and out, is sure of his prowess as a lover.

That alone is almost as much of a turn-on as everything else about him.

Ciel moans even louder, even less restrained than before as he rolls back enthusiastically into the pounding hips, relishing in the sound of their skin slapping together. Open-mouthed kisses rain down onto the top half of his spine, tongue stroking against the back of his shoulder, and then an arm around his torso and lifts his upper body off the sheets to sit astride strong thighs. Pressed up against the still-shirted chest, hand tangled in the longer black hair at the base of his lover’s neck, Ciel’s eyes widen delightedly as he sinks even further down into the next barrage of thrusts-

And then something cold touches to the tip of his erection.

Blinking downwards, he stares at the little metal distraction teasing at him. The vibrator isn’t ridiculously sized; it’s only around the same size and girth as his own length, but shaped almost like a bullet and cool to the touch.

He tilts his head to the side, catching Sebastian’s grinning eyes. ‘Since when did you-’

‘When you went on your business trip a few weeks ago, after seeing the photo you left for me.’

Ah. _The photo_. 

The photo had been taken around a week before he’d gone on the trip, when he’d had a day off and Sebastian had been at work. Sun shining through the windows, a naked and fully-erect Ciel had set up his camera with the lens Sebastian had gifted to him on their first anniversary, rigged it carefully over their bed, then used the self-timer function to snap a photo of himself laid back on the pillows. Aperture set wide to isolate and soften focus on him, and golden-hour light of the early evening flatteringly highlighting and shading him in all the right places, he had looked like the very definition of erotica in the final image- one knee slightly bent, hands crossed unbound above his head, and staring up through thick lashes with an ambivalently demure and dirty bitten-lip smile.

And just before he’d left the house the morning of the trip, he’d snuck a printed copy into the book Sebastian had been reading at the time; two-hundred-and-thirty pages into Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ciel had left it poking out a few millimetres from the top of the pages in place of the usual Cheshire Cat bookmark.

If the characters in the book could have seen it, they would have gotten one hell of an eyeful.

Snuggling back into Sebastian’s hold, Ciel laughs. ‘How many times did you get off to that while I was gone?’

‘I lost count. On the first day, probably four? I got this-’ he nudges the cold toy against his length a little more firmly, ‘-on the third day you were gone because I couldn’t wait any longer to feel you inside me.’

‘One photo got you to buy a vibrator?’

‘Yes…and now I can use it on you, too.’

That’s all the warning he gets. A click, and suddenly he’s writhing back against Sebastian’s chest at the intensity. One orgasm down already, the concentrated vibrations against his tip are nearly overwhelmingly powerful and, unable to vocalise more than a few strained whimpers of ‘coming’, he comes for a second time.

This time, Sebastian doesn’t even stop to tease. Sucking on the side of his neck and the lobe of his ear, he pumps into him through it all, grinding right up against his sweet spot from the inside while the toy works from the outside.

The ministrations continue. Sebastian moves within him with ease, sliding the toy down to press the quivering metal object behind his testicles. Two orgasms down, Ciel is sure that even Sebastian’s stamina, as robust as it can be, will reach its limit soon.

‘One more.’

Maybe not. ‘Fuck, fuck…Sebastian, please,’ he gasps, ‘it’s too much!’

‘You can come one more time, honey…you can do it-‘

‘No no no I ca- fuck, please!’

‘You can do it, I know you can.’ A kiss to the back of his neck, to the very furthest part of his jaw, to the side of his head in his hair; Sebastian slows within him for a moment, tilting his head to their lips can connect properly. ‘I love you so much.’

The restraint behind that growl turns Ciel completely boneless. Utterly unable to keep moving himself anymore, for once he just surrenders and goes with it, giving in to his lover’s touches and letting the other take over. Sebastian’s lips seek out his ear again, mouthing against it and sliding down his neck. He’s close, groaning and gyrating upwards against him at an unrelenting pace.

Between the bodily contact, the vibrator, and the incessant friction against his prostate, Ciel moans rapturously as he’s thrown headlong into a painfully euphoric (and almost-dry) third orgasm, right as Sebastian finishes inside him.

Too tired out to care about the state of their skin and bedcovers, they collapse onto the sheets together, rolling to meet the other fully in embrace. There’s a click as his lover turns off the toy, and then a contented hum as Sebastian touches the tips of their noses together and wraps his tattooed arm around his still-quaking form. ‘You were incredible.’

‘Hn…look whose talking.’

A low laugh rumbles through the other’s chest. ’You haven’t seen anything yet. You won’t be able to get out of bed after our wedding, let alone walk…I might just slide that inside you, get on top and leave it at full while I ride you.’

‘Nnuh…you’re gonna kill me. Headline the next day- Man murders new husband with mind-blowing sex.’

‘Orgasms as weapons.’

‘Yeah…but then again, _what_ a way to go.’ They both giggle at that.

When he’s finally regained enough breath to move, Ciel drags himself up to get cleaned off. But Sebastian has made a little too good on his request; one shaky step towards the door, and Ciel drops to the floor with a yelp as his legs buckle and collapse underneath him. He’s left in a helpless heap on the floor, while his husband-to-be cackles loudly from atop the messy sheets.

He scowls playfully back at him as he tries to lift himself up. ‘Fuck off. Our wedding night, you’re the one losing the use of his legs!’

If his current predicament is any indication, it’s _definitely_ going to be a night to remember.


	8. Darkness Falls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *covertly hides under blanket*

In an effort to save more money for their honeymoon trip, they’re both working late into the evening every single weeknight.

Sebastian has important deadlines and projects to work on anyway; Vincent has just given him a minor promotion, meaning more money, but more work and longer hours every so often. Even so, he’s still loving his job as much as that first week, and he still comes home wearing a smile more often than he comes home with a frown.

The extra time Sebastian spends at the office gives Ciel plenty of time to plan ahead for the three weeks he’ll be gone from his post. The wedding is only just over four months away, and suddenly everything is going along frighteningly quickly.

But _finally_ everything is ready; there’s three weeks of projects for the staff to contend with while he’s gone, with enough wiggle room for any emergency things that come in. He’s hired a new assistant, and he’s confident that Harcourt can handle anything that gets thrown at him, despite his delicate outward appearance and soft-spoken demeanour; underneath that deceptive outer layer is an intelligent, business-minded young man who can take on almost anything.

Everything is set.

Standing up, he stretches slowly. He’d worked a lot later than normal that night; late enough for cleaners to have come and gone already, and enough that his favourite coffee shop would be closed.

He’s not really in the mood for coffee though; he was just hoping to pick up a couple of slices of their famous honey cake for him and Sebastian to devour. He can’t wait to get home to him. And food. And some bad tv they can ignore in favour of maybe making out a little. He’s probably already home, showered and cooking dinner for them at that moment in his favourite cat-print sweats while chattering away to his cat, most likely about the wedding. Which the cat will ignore in favour of rubbing her silky head up against his jaw and tickling his cheek with her whiskers.

As much as he hates having to take allergy medication to keep her, he can’t help but love the way that Wanda makes Sebastian smile.

Ciel packs everything away, meticulously double-checking every filing cabinet drawer he locks before setting the alarms on the filing room and his office. He’s the only one left in the entire building, and although it’s usually fine, something has him on edge tonight.

The feeling continues to grip him even as he wanders across the open office and through the hallway to the elevator. It arrives, and he steps in and presses for the ground floor.

The moment the doors open is when the bad feeling comes to a head.

And everything goes to hell.

In an instant, he’s dragged forward out of it and thrown flat on his back on the marble floor, pain shooting through his sternum and creeping through his stomach.

It happens so fast. The attacker’s fist slams into one cheek, and he feels a molar splinter. The other comes down on his chest, the audible crack telling him his ribs have just broken. He flails an arm upwards to the assailant’s face, only to have it twisted and pinned to the floor at the side of his body.

It only takes seconds, and suddenly he’s alone again, breaths coming hard and ragged and pain pouring out of him. When he tries to rise, his stomach stings…and that’s when he notices the blood all over his white dress shirt, spilling from the deep hole sliced in the centre of his torso.

His head spins. He thinks of Sebastian, curled up on the couch with Wanda, feeding her treats. He thinks of his parents, blissfully unaware as they enjoy dinner with Angelina and Dietrich. He thinks of Lizzie and Soma, Sieglinde and Luka, and Alois and Thompson, venturing on their first triple-date together that night.

His head tips back, eyes blurring. The lights get brighter and darker in the same blink- just how much blood is he losing?

Grappling for his pocket, somehow he finds the strength to tug his phone out and press on Sebastian’s name.

After a few seconds, that wonderful voice echoes into his ears. _’Hey honey. What’s up? You still at work?’_

‘I love you…’ he tries desperately to stay alert, but his vision is already turning black around the edges.

_‘Ciel…Ciel? Baby? Honey what-‘_

The phone clatters loudly to the floor, but he’s already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *whistles innocently*
> 
> Pay no attention to the author under the blanket.


	9. Alive, Still

When his eyes flutter open, the air around him reeks of sterile chemicals.

Ciel goes to raise a hand, only to find it heavier than usual, and takes note of the thick cast surrounding his wrist in all its garish off-whiteness. He draws in a breath, only to find it hurts, and he coughs around something; there’s a tube stuck down his throat.

He feels like everything should be fuzzy, but it’s all clear as day.

He got attacked. Stabbed.

And now, he’s in a hospital.

Still bleary, his eyes narrow to a squint as he traces the room. His contacts- a recent addition to his life since being discovering his increasingly frequent headaches have been sight-related -have been removed, so everything is slightly out-of-focus. The minute difference between his actual sight and the prescription is hard to tell when his head already hurts this much, but he can tell one thing- it’s getting towards early morning; through the slits of the window blinds, the beginnings of sunlight are poking above the buildings in the distance.

How long has he been out for? Has he lost a few hours? A whole day?

Through the doorway, he catches sight of Soma sat upright with Lizzie leaning on his shoulder, both fitfully asleep in the uncomfortable waiting chairs. Alois is stood with a takeaway coffee cup in hand, eyes exhausted and puffy as he cuddles with a dead-on-his-feet Thompson. He can’t see much of her, but Ciel already knows that the emerald heels leading into thick black tights lying across some of the seats belong to a probably dozing Sieglinde, and that the low voices he can hear are his parents chatting with Luka.

Then he sees Sebastian at his left.

It’s clear he tried to stay awake for as long as possible, but just couldn’t hold out anymore. Sebastian’s hand loosely grips the fingers of his left, touching the ring he had so lovingly ordered to specification especially for him. The handsome sleeping face is streaked with dried-up tears and tense even at rest, body curled uncomfortably over the edge of the bed and using one of his own arms as a pillow. He’s not even out of his work clothes, save for his tie hanging discarded over the arm of the plastic hospital seat; he must have ran straight out the door before he could even think to change.

Behind the pain already blooming through his chest, his heart aches.

As if he’s sensed that he’s awake, vermillion eyes flutter open slowly and blink at him, instantly filling with tears. ‘I thought I’d lost you. They told me you nearly died when you were in surgery. I was so scared…’

The tube helping him breathe prevents reply, stops him from reassuring that he’s still there, but the matching wet lines running down his own face seems to be enough for now.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kindly stop chasing me with those pitchforks, ladies, gentleman, dear humans. They're scaring my cat!


	10. Loose Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I've never worked in one, I don't fully know how hospitals operate, or the mechanics of medicine, so please suspend disbelief and ignore my lack of medical knowledge. XD

He’s in hospital for nearly two weeks.

The mystery attacker had left him with countless stitches in the centre of his torso, cracked ribs, a collapsed lung, a broken wrist, a black eye and bruised nose and cheek, one completely shattered tooth near the back of his mouth that had to be removed, and a medium-sized slice in one of his major arteries. The doctors confirmed and elaborated on what Sebastian had told him when he’d come to; he’d had to be revived twice in the back of the ambulance during the journey, and had subsequently flatlined on the operating table just minutes after the surgeons had begun to work on him.

It had taken hours, and a disproportionate amount of the hospital’s supply of o-negative by the time they’d been able to get him stabilised and find out his blood type.

If the ambulance had been any later, their forthcoming wedding would have become a funeral.

Watching Sebastian pack his things away, he looks to the empty IV stand that had once held blood and saline, then to his fiance. He’s been meaning to ask ever since the doctor had told him. ‘You never told me you’re O-negative.’

‘You never went through my wallet and saw the donor card?’

‘I don’t exactly make it a habit to snoop through your wallet, you know. I get to see your beautiful face every day, and that’s much better looking at your license photo.’

Sebastian snorts at the compliment and helps him lean forward to put on a clean t-shirt. ‘They usually don’t let gay men donate blood unless they haven’t had sex for a year. But since the only people in our lives like that are each other and my last health check came back clean, they made an exception in the circumstances. They didn’t want to take any risks of giving you something you couldn’t receive, and this isn’t exactly the biggest hospital going, so supplies were low. Luckily, they found out that _someone_ -‘ the other dips down, pecking him on the tip of the nose, ‘-is AB-positive. Universal recipient.’

‘And you’re universal donor. Should have known.’ He leans in, ready to return the gesture, but stops dead, glaring gravely over his husband-to-be’s shoulder. Leaning on the doorframe is one person neither of them want to see.

Eyes wide and face contorted in horror, Claude Faustus stares back at him.

Out of instinct, Ciel wants to move to protect Sebastian; he’s heard enough vitriol from his abusive ex to last a lifetime, and he doesn’t need to hear any more after the stress of the last few weeks over his head. But he’s in no fit state to be making any sudden moves.

It’s Sebastian that shifts in front of _him_ this time, standing straighter and gripping his hand protectively. There’s no trace of the timid man from when they’d broken up.

He’s all firm confidence, and Ciel couldn’t be prouder.

‘Faustus, what are you doing here?’ Sebastian asks, voice cool and eyes narrowed.

‘I was here visiting someone. What happened to him?’ the ex shoots back, eyes flicking between them. He almost sounds concerned.

That can’t be right.

Ciel peers out from behind Sebastian’s waist. ‘I got attacked leaving my office a couple of weeks ago.’

The bespectacled man steps forward, and Sebastian almost growls. ‘Come any closer, I’ll give a repeat of what happened last time we were in the same room.’

Claude pales a little, raising his hands in surrender; the memory is apparently fresher than they would have thought. ‘This isn’t a single attack. My colleague, Hannah? She got attacked a few nights ago coming out of her building. Yesterday, it was that weirdo Aleister Chambers. You remember him?’

‘When he was drunk, he tried shoving a finger up my nose and said we were practically having sex. It would be hard to forget him.’ Sebastian snorts.

Claude dips his head and chuckles back, and for an instant, they could have been mistaken for old friends.

A sick flood of jealousy rushes through Ciel. For the first time since the misunderstanding about Joker, his mind throws him the mental image of losing Sebastian.

Swallowing thickly, he peers out from behind Sebastian again, and Claude’s hand rises back up defensively. ‘I’m not here to argue, or fight, or start shit. I just saw a familiar face and got nosy. And now I know you probably got attacked by the same shit-head hitting all these office buildings, I was hoping to convince you to give a statement to the police.’

Ciel nods. ’…I did that already. They said it’s probably the same person.’

The ex grunts in ascent, and crosses his arms. ‘…thanks. Anything to catch them quicker.’

A tense silence falls over the trio. Ciel wants nothing more than for Claude to leave and leave for good, but from the way he’s leaning against the door, he seems content to stay. Just how long before he decided to cause havoc between them?

And then-

‘I’m sorry.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN. DUN. DUUUUUUUN.


	11. Overdue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm running out of written chapters and still haven't finished this story yet.
> 
> SHITSHITSHITSHITSHIT

For a second, he wonders if he’s slipped into an alternate universe.

Ciel blinks up into Sebastian’s face, watching the shock and confusion spread in a similar way to his own. Out of nervous habit, his thumb touches to the inside of the engagement ring, as if it will somehow comfort him.

Instead, all it does is remind him that Sebastian’s hand bears nothing. Nothing to signify that he’s taken, that he’s engaged, that he’s Ciel’s and only Ciel’s. Sebastian could pretend to be a free man if he wanted to; he could go off with someone- someone better than him -and nobody would know the difference if they didn’t know him.

It’s never bothered him up until this moment, and now he despises himself for letting Claude’s reappearance question all this about himself again. _I thought I was past this shit_.

Sebastian’s hand slides entirely away from his, the loss of touch throwing him a sickening chill on his sweat-damp palm. But then almost instantly his body shifts closer once more, and instead of stepping away from the bed as Ciel expected him to, Sebastian moves to sit down properly. One lean, intricately inked arm tucks around his waist, until his hand is possessively grasping his left hand and thumbing at the engagement ring. The accompanying look that radiates from Sebastian’s eyes as he stares his ex down is also wholly possessive; an unspoken but very clear warning that Ciel is his, and he is Ciel’s, and nothing- not even a sincere apology- will change that.

At least, that’s what Ciel hopes that look means.

The ex sighs, chewing his bottom lip and watching them intently. Ciel has never seen him without malice in his eyes; no inkling of a desire to cause damage or chaos. But now he’s standing there, face absent of his signature malignant smirk, and not even really focusing on Sebastian at all. It’s as unsettling as it is off-piste.

Claude clears his throat. ‘Sebastian, I recently took a good long look at myself and realised how much of a shitty human being I’ve been. Especially to you, and Alois.’

‘What caused this sudden attack of conscience?’ Sebastian throws back.

‘I…saw him out on a date with someone. And…he looked really happy.’ The gulp that follows is loud enough to be heard over the hospital bustle. Faustus slumps a little against the doorframe, eyes glazing over behind his glasses.

Understanding hits.

 _Claude is in love with Alois_.

The ex shifts a little, lips pursing. ‘This guy he’s with- does he make him happy?’

As he nods, Ciel expects to feel triumphant. The man who had driven Sebastian deep into once-dormant bulimia, and Alois to an almost skeletal state through anorexia, is getting his comeuppance; both of the people he hurt are happy and healthy and in loving relationships while he’s left pining for what he gave up.

Instead, as he watches Claude take in the news…he feels _sorry_ for him.

Claude had made his bed; he’d hurt two wonderful people with his taunts and bullying. Maybe even more before them. But the look on his face is one he’s seen many times before; in the reflection of a glass of water when he’d been forced to listen through what felt like paper-thin walls as Ash, the closeted man with the pregnant wife back home, had fucked Sebastian heartlessly just a few doors away the night he revealed all; in the window when the drug-addicted creep, Undertaker, had dropped him off with a slimy, tongue-filled kiss; in the mirror every time he’d heard the deafening click of Sebastian’s keys unlocking the front door to meet the man before them right now.

As much as he does think Claude deserves to go through this, needs to go through this even, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t feel for him; _he’s been there_.

Ciel blinks into the golden amber eyes, and for the very first time, something akin to understanding passes between them.

Claude clears his throat again, hand quickly swiping at his cheek before crossing his arms again and standing straight. ‘Please, don’t tell him you saw me. I don’t want to jeopardise anything good he might have going on. He deserves to be happy.’

He pauses, seemingly taking in something, then points to his left ring finger with a small smile. ‘Congratulations, by the way.’

And then, before either of them can comment or even wave goodbye, he disappears from the doorway without another word.

Sebastian blinks at the empty doorframe. ‘Do you think it’s possible he’s actually changed?’

‘…if he really wanted to change, I’d like to think so.’

He doesn’t expect the next question. ‘Ciel…you _know_ I love you, and nothing can change that, right?’

When he says nothing, Sebastian’s face drops a little. ‘You didn’t think…’

‘It’s not about me not trusting you, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

‘I’m more worried that you’re thinking that crap about not being good enough for me again.’

 _Damn_.

‘That’s it, isn’t it?’

It’s true. Even though he’s engaged; even though he’s got the guy; even though Sebastian, the man he’d been dreaming of for as long as he can remember, is his and will be forever, there has always been a part of him with an unfavourable bias against himself, taunting him with thoughts that the other deserves better.

And his silence speaks volumes where words don’t.

Lips brush lightly against his own, before his left hand is pulled up slightly for Sebastian to touch the ring around his third finger. ’Do you remember that day I came home from work and you’d been crying? And you lied and told me it was your allergies?’

He thought he was going to lose everything that day. Of course he remembers. ‘It was that day I saw you and Joker on the street.’

’From the sounds of it, when you saw us, I’d already had the ring on me for an hour and a half.’

His heart almost skips a beat. ’…what?’

Sebastian smiles softly and plants another kiss on the tip of his nose. ‘I picked it up just before Joker and I got coffee. Our office servers went down first thing, so your dad said for everyone to take a break, run errands, until it was back online. Joker was one of the first to find out I was planning on proposing…because his friend, Dagger, was the one who helped make me the ring.’

Ciel stares into calm eyes, stunned. ‘Wh-what?’

‘I already kind of knew I wanted to marry you on our first anniversary when Alois turned up on our doorstep. I knew I could forgive him for what he did. But when _you_ forgave him? Gave him a second chance, brought him into our circle, offered your friendship? I fell for you so much harder, I knew I’d never get back up again. And I knew that I didn’t want to either.’

‘Really? That long?’

‘Yeah. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’re not just “good enough”. You’re the one.’

Those three little words crash into him like a tidal wave, bringing forth tears that had been welling against his will. Ciel falls forward, forehead to a strong chest, and pushes his lips against the slightly rough cotton of the new t-shirt that still needs the stiffness washed out of it. He kisses the curve of his collarbone through the fabric, murmuring a quiet ‘I love you’ into the material, then smiles as Sebastian whispers it back contentedly and runs a hand through his hair.

Fifteen weeks until the wedding.

It can’t come soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I said at some point that I wasn't going to even vaguely redeem Claude, but at some point while writing the mess that is this story, my brain was a bastard and set me a personal challenge to try.
> 
> Tell me how I did?


	12. A Night (or Several) At Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ciel worries over the superficial things, and Sebastian lets loose something he's been holding back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning- more smutty stuff in this chapter. Kinda.

He wonders whether he’s imagining it, but Ciel is sure Sebastian is around more evenings than usual.

The two-month lead-up to the wedding is more relaxed than he could have envisioned. His recovery is going better than anticipated. His wedding outfit was finished a few days ago and is hung up at Lizzie’s for the big day. Sebastian’s suit, which Ciel saw him try on, is well-fitted, and drool-worthily shows off every single one of his best assets, and hung up in the closet in a protective bag. His parents house is ready to be decked out in the appropriate decorations for the day. Everything is on track, and there’s nothing to be done except relax and wait for the morning of the event to finally arrive.

And Sebastian seems to be doing a lot of relaxing with him back at the house, instead of out with his work friends.

Each time, Ciel had questioned as to why he was home again. And each time, Sebastian had shrugged and told him that he’s been doing it to save more money for the honeymoon.

He isn’t complaining; Sebastian being home more often means more cuddles, more movie nights, and Ciel can’t deny that he feels a little more relaxed with the presence of someone familiar around at night at the moment.

A hiss makes him jump, and he looks to his side where Sebastian is holding out a beer, already cracked open for him. ‘You okay, honey?’

Ciel nods. ‘Just thinking of things.’

‘Wedding things?’

‘Mm. Like how I won’t fit into my outfit anymore.’

Unable to really do much other than laze around and recover from his injuries, Ciel had noticed the inevitable; his jeans fit a little too snugly compared to how they used to, and his t-shirts stretch just a little further than they do normally. He’s not overweight by any means, but he’s certainly not as slim as he used to be.

Sebastian puts his own drink to the side and curls around his back on the couch, arm stroking his stomach. Soft fingertips, one with a band-aid from an accidental slide with a knife during dinner preparations, poke at his fleshier stomach. ‘You’re not fat, if that’s what you’re thinking. Nowhere near it.’

‘Mm. Still, maybe I should think about going running with you sometime.’

‘Ciel, no,’ Sebastian leans up, tilting his face towards him, ‘for starters, you could gain eighty pounds and I wouldn’t care. We’re all going to end up old, chubby, and wrinkled anyway. Secondly, you’re still recovering. I’ll bet as soon as you’re back up to full health and can go for long walks again, that weight you think you’ve put on will fall right off you.’

‘I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to trade me in for a sleeker model.’

‘Don’t compare yourself to something as common as a car. You’re more like…a really fine wine; you get better with age, and little extra body doesn’t hurt you.’

The conversation is quite familiar. He blushes. ‘Don’t be cute, Sebastian. I know I’m chunky right now.’

‘Oh, sure, you’re the chunkiest monkey there is. I mean look-‘ the hand on his stomach tugs up his t-shirt, and lips come down just above his belly button, ‘-this pancake here has become a stack. Where’s the maple syrup?’

Instantly Ciel’s hands go over his eyes, laughter bubbling up as he tries to wriggle out of the other’s grip. ‘You know I’m ticklish, asshole!’

‘Mm-‘ a kiss to his stomach, ‘-delicious, though. You’re good enough to eat.’ Sebastian grinds against his leg as he speaks, a sighed moan following his words, and it only serves as a blaring reminder for just how long it’s been since they last slept together.

Eight weeks. Eight hellishly long weeks. They’ve never gone that long without _something_ before. Hell, they’d barely gone a week without sex since the engagement, even at their most exhausted. Somehow, they’ve always found the energy for it.

The attack had changed that temporarily; warnings of ripped stitches, displacements to his broken ribs, and the possibility of more punctures to already susceptible lungs had put him off for a few weeks even before the doctors had forbidden any strenuous activities.

But he’s almost healed. His ribs have mended themselves. The stitches had been removed. His arm, although slightly wasted away from disuse in the confines of the thick cast, is free and useable again. The waiting is finally up.

Still self-conscious, Ciel whimpers as his fiance ruts against him. ‘Sebastian…ah-’

‘Ciel, want- ahh- want you. Want you inside.’

That declaration goes straight down to his groin. He reaches, tugging roughly at the buckle of Sebastian’s belt. ‘Take them off. Take them off and I can give you what you want.’

It’s been far too long. Ciel rips open the front of his own jeans and pushes them down and off his legs, kicking his underwear away with them. The t-shirt, almost torn off his body, lands somewhere behind the couch to be retrieved later. Eyes glued to his lover, he watches on as Sebastian practically shreds his own clothes as he tears them away in desperation and leans to fumble around the underside of the sofa for their secret stash.

He half-expects Sebastian to speed the process along and prepare himself; it’s always a little quicker that way, and he would be lying through his teeth if he said he didn’t share some of Sebastian’s voyeuristic kink; the few times he’s seen Sebastian get himself off in that way- long fingers sliding into himself, writhing back and forth against his own hand while gasping and indecently groaning his name -it’s turned him on without fail and given him his own mental image reel for when he isn’t around and the urge strikes.

But this time, there’s no preparation. At all. Sebastian must be even more desperate than him, because before he can protest, the taller has already slicked him with the lubricant and roughly sank halfway down onto him.

The wince and whine is enough to clear some of the lust from his head. His hands land on Sebastian’s hips, pulling to hold him in place. ‘Shit- slow down! Don’t hurt yourself!’

‘Fuck, you’re bigger than I re-’ His sentence cuts off with a gasp as his body falls down the last inch.

‘We can stop-‘

‘No! No, please…I need this. I need you.’ It’s only when Sebastian’s head rolls back to face him that he notices. There’s tears in the other’s eyes.

Through the thick haze of arousal, Ciel stares up, stunned. ‘Seb-’

‘I almost lost you,’ the other chokes, ‘I’m sorry! I just don’t know what I would have done if they hadn’t got to you in time.’

‘It’s okay-‘

‘You almost died, Ciel! YOU ALMOST GOT TAKEN AWAY FROM ME AND THERE WAS NOTHING I COULD DO!’

Sebastian pitches forward, toned body covering his as quiet sobs wrack him, and Ciel’s hands are immediately in his fiance’s silky hair and at the back of his neck, tugging him even closer and stroking through the thick strands. The change is startling; the last thing he had expected from this encounter was for him to break down in his arms like this.

It’s in that second that Ciel finally, truly puts together just how unfounded and insignificant his insecurities about himself really are.

He’s out of shape. His chest is scarred, from the attack and the subsequent surgery. His eyelid has never quite gone back to normal after the bruising cleared up, the right one remaining the minutest amount thicker than the other and with a thin scar leading towards the bridge of his nose. From where the tooth had to be taken out, there’s a nasty gap in his gums near the back of his mouth, which he’s still yet to consult a dentist about fixing. He’s weak right now. Damaged physically, mentally, emotionally.

And yet even in his less than optimal state, Sebastian is scared to tears at even the slightest notion that he could have lost him.

It all clicks into place. Sebastian hasn’t just been at home all those nights to oversee his recovery.

He’s terrified to leave him in case it’s the last time he sees him alive.

Lifting a hand, he caresses all the way up the defined line of his fiance’s jaw to the curling shell of his ear, following the touch with a string of soft, chaste kisses. ‘I’m alive, sweetheart. I’m right here with you, and I’m not going anywhere.’

The words are sweet, breathy, barely audible. But he knows Sebastian hears them.

He had expected their first time after so long to be fiery, crazed, fuelled by eight weeks of pent-up lust and desperation. Instead, as he rolls his hips carefully upwards and Sebastian gasps, everything slows. Instead of impassioned requests for _harder, faster_ , he’s pressing tears away from the other’s gleaming red eyes as they fall, pulling him down into deep kisses, treating him as if he’s the most delicate porcelain and savouring every second.

And Sebastian does the same in kind; he straightens up, and every time he sinks down to meet a thrust halfway, those long fingers dance over every part of him they can reach; they sweep sweat-damp bangs from his eyes and thumb over his scarred eyelid, stroke over his healed ribs, caress the discoloured scar of the stab wound bisecting the two halves of his torso. Then he strikes that sensitive spot within Sebastian just right, and the other grapples for his hands, intertwining them with his own and leaning back to take him in deeper.

It’s relaxed. Careful. Slow. Everything that their last encounter wasn’t, and they both sort of need it to be that way. There’s plenty of time for more feverish love-making in their future, because neither of them are going _anywhere_.

Their orgasms burn low, building slowly like a stoked fire. Sebastian reaches his peak first, leaning over him and gasping against his mouth as he rides it out, and with a low moan, Ciel is quick to follow.

After pulling out, they lie there for longer than usual, basking in the embers of their afterglow. As much as Ciel desperately wants to climb into a shower with him, he can’t quite bring himself to disturb the doze the other quickly falls into against his shoulder, nose tucked into the side of his neck and almost humming in contentedness at every breath.

Despite the sticky discomfort, he pulls the blanket off the back of the couch over their bodies, and decides to let Sebastian rest a little while longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *frantically works on finishing this fic*
> 
> *flails because failing to finish this fic*


	13. Fluid Grace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a few days to post. I've been pretty ill with a chest infection and not sleeping particularly well. :/
> 
> Warning to those who don't really like non-binary headcanons: this is my interpretation of this character for this universe, and in no way is my universal headcanon, or something I need everyone to accept as universal headcanon. It's just something I was messing with for this universe.
> 
> It kind of came about because one of my friends came to the conclusion last year that they're genderfluid, so I wanted to try getting a bit more comfortable with writing non-binary characters so I can make little nods to them within my fics in the future. If you're reading, you know who you are! <3

‘I told you the weight would start falling right off you.’

Sebastian smirks smugly as he slices through a handful of mushrooms. It’s a chilled-out Friday night at their place, with one difference to usual; Lizzie, Alois, Luka and Sieglinde are due to arrive in just under half an hour, expecting to be fed an insane amount of Sebastian’s homemade pizzas.

And for the first time in weeks, Ciel is perfectly comfortable to indulge, because a mere four weeks after worrying he wouldn’t fit into his wedding outfit, the extra ten pounds have already melted off of his body; the wonderful side effect of finally being able to walk without his ribs feeling like they’re burning anymore.

Sebastian’s prediction has been one-hundred-percent correct, and he’s particularly smug about it.

Ciel snorts, tearing up chunks of mozzarella. ‘Shut up, smart-ass.’

‘Assbutt.’

‘Bitch.’

‘Jerk.’

Before Ciel can retort, though, the sound of their front door opening and closing distracts him. There’s a padding of footsteps across their living room carpet, and then an entirely different distraction standing before them in the kitchen doorway in the form of one of their friends.

Alois leans under the arch of the kitchen’s entrance, shifting uncomfortably up against the doorframe. There’s something off about his appearance, and it doesn’t register fully until he straightens up and steps forward towards the counter what the difference is.

Instead of his usual shorts, he’s wearing a pleated plaid miniskirt.

Their blond friend chews his lip. ‘Can I talk to you for a sec, Ciel?’

Once they’re in the hallway, out of earshot, Ciel points down. ‘Is this about the skirt?’

Alois rolls his eyes, fiddling with the sleeve of his hoodie. ‘Yeah. Does it look alright?’

If he was going to be totally honest, Ciel isn’t sure how he’s supposed to react. He’s never seen one of his male friends in a skirt before outside of a halloween costume. And he had thought after seeing Bard in fishnets, wig, corset and mini-skirt at that Rocky Horror Picture Show-themed night out with the office, done up with more make-up than a Sephora counter and looking like the spitting image of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, he would never want to see a guy in a skirt again.

But as he surveys the other as a whole, it feels a bit different to that. It’s not a half-baked costume associated with an old movie. It’s just one of his friends, standing before him, wearing a skirt.

Without a doubt, he’s one-hundred-percent sure Alois had the legs for the outfit, and even more so while wearing his usual over-the-knee socks. The marl grey t-shirt underneath the purple zip-up is a touch too baggy on him, but on the whole, he really does look good, if a little bit schoolgirlish for a twenty-something-year-old.

The blond chews harder on his lip, clearly growing anxious for an answer. So Ciel does what he thinks any good friend would do; he smiles, and pats him on the shoulder reassuringly. ‘You look great, buddy.’

Alois lets out a relieved-sounding sigh, a hand scraping through his chin-length locks, and that’s when Ciel notices something else; he’s wearing make-up. It’s barely there; a sheen of tinted balm, and a slight flick drawn in the corners of his eye in black eyeliner pen, similar to what Sebastian occasionally does to himself (and has convinced Ciel to allow him to put on him a few times). But it’s enough to be different to usual.

And it doesn’t look bad. Quite the contrary; Alois looks fantastic.

Sexuality has always been something he was very open with. It would be hypocritical if he wasn’t; there was a time not that long ago in history that he and Sebastian would have been killed for their orientation if it got out in the open. 

Gender isn’t something he’s really thought about as much. He knows what it means to be transgender, and he’s heard random words in articles he skims through online- agender, genderqueer, genderfluid -but he’s never paid much attention to them, or looked up exactly what they mean.

But with Alois standing before him now, hair growing out and wearing a garment so typically associated with women, the thought suddenly occurs that one of his friends might just fall into one of those mysterious categories he’s never looked at before.

Alois doesn’t give him the chance to really ask. The other merely smiles gratefully back at him and wanders back to the kitchen to lend them a hand with the food.

In the back of his mind, he makes a mental note to do some research later, then follows him through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Sebastian and Ciel like making Supernatural references to each other <3


	14. Thrown In The Deep End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know. It's been around a week. But I haven't really had any motivation to post the rest of this.

Pizza finished, Sebastian and Ciel spend the evening doing something with their friends that they never thought they’d be able to do.

Over beer and popcorn, they’re having Pretty Little Liars shipping wars.

Alois gestures wildly to the screen, pointing between the two characters with a disgusted expression. ‘See? I fucking knew this would happen! Ezra and Aria are so fucking predictable. I KNEW she’d break up with that other guy and fall straight back into his arms. This is why I stopped watching it.’

‘Hey! They’re adorable! And for the record, I love Spencer and Caleb too!’ Lizzie shoots back, scowling.

At the same time, Ciel and Sebastian look at each other and nod, silent understanding passing between them, before turning back to her.

Sebastian shakes his head. ‘Devil woman. You are a devil woman if you don’t OTP Caleb and Hanna.’

‘Ugh, they broke up ages ago! You say Ezria is predictable and yet you’re hung up on freaking Haleb?’

Ciel stares back at her, stunned. ’Lizzie, they’re high school sweethearts. Caleb- did you portmanteau our ship’s names and then crap all over it?’

‘Sorry, Lizzie, but we’re no longer friends.’ The words are serious, but the sentiment is not; Sebastian’s face is already splitting into a grin, and a few seconds later, the entire group is in fits of giggles in their seats just as Netflix rolls into a new episode.

When the rest of their friends leave, Alois lingers by himself in the hallway. He didn’t drive, so he’s had a few drinks, and the alcohol that should have been giving him confidence in his choices seems to be jacking up whatever anxiety he might have had about his outfit to begin with.

With their friends, he’d had no worries. Sebastian had complimented his flawless eyeliner. Lizzie had gushed over him the second she’d got through the door, claiming that he shouldn’t have had legs that looked that gorgeous while hugging him tight. Sieglinde didn’t seemed to notice, too preoccupied with jabbering on about some experiment she was hip-deep in at work, and his brother hadn’t even been phased; Luka had merely stated that he should have gone with some grey socks to coordinate with his t-shirt, before asking where the garlic mayonnaise was kept.

None of them had treated him any differently to normal. But there was one person who he knew Alois was panicking about, and he’s on his way to pick him up right now.

Ciel steps towards him. ‘You’re worried about what Thompson’s going to say, aren’t you?’

Nodding. ‘I didn’t tell him I was going out wearing anything like this, and now I’m worried what he’ll say. He didn’t sign up to date a guy in drag.’ He turns his head away, hand fisted at his side into the skirt fabric, and Ciel knows he’s fighting off the urge to cry.

Just as he’s about to try and reassure him, there’s a knock at the front door.

They both freeze and blink from the door to each other.

‘What do I do?’ Alois mouths, eyes full of panic.

One half of him says he could direct Alois upstairs, tell him he could borrow some of his jeans or shorts to go home in. There’s face wipes and cleanser; the blond could wipe off the make-up, wash away any trace of evidence of his choices that evening and his boyfriend would be none the wiser to them.

But the other half vehemently protests.

Alois made his choices that evening for a reason. If it had been him in that position, Alois would have likely already opened the door and encouraged him to step out of it, telling him Sebastian would be all over him, that he was hotter than Hell in the middle of a heatwave, and to tell anyone who disagreed to go fuck themselves. Alois has never hidden himself, and he’s ever encouraging others to be as forward.

It’s with this in mind that makes Ciel throw him in the deep end. With a quick mental prayer that Alois will forgive him, and ignoring his silent protests, he darts towards the door and pulls it open. ‘Hey Thompson!’

His plum-haired friend waves and smiles. ‘Hey, Ciel. Where’s my tipsy boyfriend at?’

Looking to the other side of the door, Alois stares back at him, grasping his skirt in his fists. His expression falls somewhere between panic and mild betrayal as he mouths a string of curses at him, then shoves Ciel aside as he sighs and steps out of hiding.

As he walks into view, Thompson blinks, mouth falling open.

Ciel’s heart sinks. Was this a mistake?

Silence falls between the couple. Alois’ eyes shift away from his boyfriends’, looking anywhere but up into his face. He quivers on the spot in the chilly night air, hands clenched, and Ciel sucks in a soundless breath, watching for a reaction.

‘Damn, Alois…’ The purple-haired man’s eyes fall half-lidded, mouth now open for a different reason. His breathing shallows, swallowing thickly, and Ciel watches on as heat rises up the taller man’s cheeks like wildfire through a forest. He’s not freaked out at all.

He’s completely flustered.

Ciel barely has time to dart out of the line of fire; Thompson practically shoves past him, scooping Alois into a cuddle and pecking a kiss to his balm-tinted lips. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you were going out in an outfit like that?’

Alois’ face is a picture; his eyes are blown wide open, cheeks tinted with their own cherry-tinged flush, and Ciel smothers a giggle that wants to bubble up as his friend is suddenly swept into a suffocating lip-lock before him, squeaking at the suddenness.

As the two leave, he doesn’t fail to notice Alois’ yelp, and Thompson’s hand getting slapped away from under the cover of plaid fabric.

 

The next morning, as Ciel awakens, a text greets him.

He reaches for his glasses, blinking blearily at the words flashing up:

_‘So I topped for the first time last night. Holy shit, Phantomhive.’_

He chuckles, tapping out a reply:

‘ _Enjoy yourself?’_

There’s a pause, and then another message appears:

_‘Pretty sure I passed out for a few seconds when I came. And it went everywhere. Like, EVERYWHERE.’_

He’s about to text a half-disgusted, half-impressed response when an arm scoops around his waist and strokes his stomach. Sebastian mumbles tiredly against his shoulder, yawning, then grimaces at the words on the screen. ‘Alois _really_ doesn’t know when he’s oversharing.’

‘Oh he knows. He just doesn’t give a shit.’

Sebastian shifts a little behind him, humming in mock thought. ‘Is sex with me that good?’

‘Hmm…I don’t know. I might have to check again right now just so I can be sure you’re as good as I remember.’ He drops the phone onto the sheets, slowly turning in his arms. In preparation for what he knows is about to come, Ciel goes to remove his glasses again, but Sebastian grabs his hand before he can reach.

He shakes his head. ‘No no no…keep the glasses on. They have a real “hot teacher” vibe.’

Ciel grins. ‘Oh…so you want to be the student today, huh?’

‘Whatever could you mean, Professor Phantomhive?’

‘You know, Michaelis, this is totally inappropriate behaviour, and I will have to send you to see the Dean if you continue to put the moves on your profe-’

‘Phantomhive-Sensei…’

_Oh shit_. The flaming arrow in his fiance’s quiver; the son of a bitch can speak three languages other than English and he sounds hot using all of them.

He gulps and breathes deep. ‘Okay, no fair, Sebastian. No breaking out the polyglot advantage here…you know what it does to me.’

Smirking widely, Sebastian leans closer and lets a shuddering breath drift over his lips. ‘Onegai…’

The remaining thread of restraint snaps. ‘Oh you silver-tongued little bastard…’

 

A little while later, Ciel finally texts Alois back:

_‘Sorry…got distracted. Sebastian saw your message and got really competitive.’_

The message back:

_‘He break out the foreign languages again?’_

_‘…Jesus fucking Christ, how drunk was I when I told you about that?’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record- I do not speak Japanese. I am currently trying to learn how to do so, however.


	15. Nerves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My motivation to finish this is still iffy- the previous bad feedback has kind of knocked my confidence.
> 
> Nevertheless, here's a short chapter.

Shifting from one foot to the next, Ciel chews his lip as he readjusts his outfit for what feels like the seventieth time. He’s so agitated and amped up on coffee from lack of sleep, he can barely stand still, let alone sit. ‘Are you sure I look alright?’

‘You look amazing, silly,’ Lizzie replies, grinning as she pins another lock of her hair in place. She’s cool as a cucumber, dressed perfectly as the best ‘man’ and bridesmaid in one outfit; a vision in a little stylised black tux jacket and blue bow tie, white shirt, and a flowing black skirt that falls just above her over-the-knee socks at the front, and dips to her ankles at the back to almost touch the black-and-white heels. Everything about her ensemble is unerringly matched, and she looks flawless.

It’s near impossible to imagine that she was bent over the toilet violently vomiting from apparent food poisoning just an hour or so ago.

Sieglinde is his more traditional bridesmaid; her own pale blue dress hangs perfectly off her petite frame, rippling lightly at every flouncing motion she makes as she walks up to him while digging in her pockets. She presses a small hip flask into his hand and winks. ‘Something to calm your nerves.’

He narrows his eyes at her, unscrewing the lid. ‘Please don’t say you squashed some of your weird Oktoberfest wheat beer in here.’

She glares back at him. ‘It’s bourbon, dummy! You look like you could do with it. And there is nothing wrong with wheat beer.’

One apprehensive sniff tells him it’s what she says it is, and he knocks back a double measure from the metal container with a grimace. It’s half an hour until it happens. He’s going to be face to face with Sebastian, in front of all their friends and family, speaking vows…and all he can think of is what can go wrong.

And he’s terrified.

‘If it makes you feel any better, Ciel, Sebastian isn’t doing much better with nerves. I just saw him do a double shot of Jaegermeister with Joker and worrying that he’s getting pimples on his jaw.’ Ciel turns to the voice’s source, and Soma steps up to him, looking him up and down before crushing him in a bear-hug. ‘You look adorable, little brother.’

His stomach tightens as the Indian man releases his hold. It’s been a long time since someone called him that.

_He_ would have been his best man, teasing him for his choice of outfit, reassuring him, telling him he was going to be fine. _He’d_ have been the one to step up to him with the ring he’ll be placing on Sebastian’s finger, then flirting with the girls (or maybe even the guys…who knows) at the wedding reception and encouraging him to dance even with his total lack of coordination. _I could have really done with you being here with me today_.

Ciel glances back to the mirror, checking himself for flaws again, and for one fleeting second, he’s almost positive it’s his long-gone twin there grinning back at him.

It takes him a few seconds to realise that it’s just him. The smile is real, and it’s on his own lips. He’s marrying Sebastian today.

He’s marrying _Sebastian_.


	16. Breathe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Motivation to finish is still low. Trying to muster more.

When he begins the slow walk to the little stone archway, Sebastian is already stood there waiting.

His expression is soft, lips tilted in smile, and Ciel has to suck in a breath at the sight of him; he’s even more stunning than he remembered. It had been a few weeks since he’d last seen Sebastian in the suit, where he’d been trying it on for Rachel’s and Angelina’s benefit. It had been a struggle to keep himself under control then; Sebastian had very purposely swayed his hips in just the right way, and it had been all Ciel could do to not start peeling the man’s clothes off and screw him right there in front of his mother and aunt. The layers of fabric cling to him perfectly, accentuating every curve of light muscle and highlighting the very best of his assets, and he expects his heart to start pounding with nerves and everything to go too fast for him to take.

Instead, everything slows. He calms as he looks up at Sebastian’s smiling face, sparing a quick glance to the rest of his soon-to-be family members. Joker is grinning, shooting him a covert thumbs-up from behind his father. Cassius is holding up well, but it’s clear the man is already a mess on the inside; he’s smiling, but it’s quivering visibly, as if he’ll burst into tears at any second.

He looks to his own mother and father on either side of him as they reach the arch. Vincent plants a kiss on his temple, whispering ‘go get him, son’ as he breaks away to sit. Rachel embraces him, rubbing his cheek affectionately before following suit.

The last two steps are the most steady ones he’s taken that entire day. He’s more sure that he’s ever been as his hands automatically link with Sebastian’s, and at the same time they both let out a quiet, comfortable laugh.

The bands they picked are simple, and another one of Dagger’s designs; each consisted of two elegantly intertwined and connected strands of metal in pure platinum, almost as if it were trying to mimic a strand of DNA. When he slides it up onto Sebastian’s ring finger, there’s a sigh, and he glances up to see Sebastian’s smiling tranquilly back at him. The taller reaches for his hand to return the favour, running his thumb along the engagement ring before slipping the wedding band up to meet its companion.

And then the officiant says the words they’ve both been dying to hear.

Behind Ciel, there’s a loud squeal. ‘Kiss, my beautiful boys!’ Sieglinde cries happily, hopping up and down in her heels.

Amidst the cheers of their friends and family and laughing ecstatically, Sebastian lets go of his hands, wrapping them around his waist as their bodies tilt in towards each other. Ciel lets his own slide up and around his new husband’s neck, and he grins delightedly into their first married kiss. As they pull back, he thinks it can’t get any more perfect-

And then the whisper Sebastian thinks he can’t hear reaches his ears:

‘Finally.’

- _it gets even better_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm feeling a sudden urge to end this fic on a cliffhanger of sorts.
> 
> Nothing bad happens to our boys...but there's just something coming soon that makes me think, 'Holy crap, this could be a great place to end it...'


	17. A Speech, Delivered

‘-so Sebastian is in the en-suite, trying not to die from the hangover. Ciel is lying on the bed in twisted-up sheets, and unbeknownst to them, I’m lounging on the floor drinking orange juice out of a cup with a twisty straw. What do I hear next?’

He was going to _kill_ her.

Lizzie smirks at him as she delivers the next part. ‘“Punish me, Professor Michaelis.” Needless to say, finding out your friends have a teacher-student kink gives you enough ammunition for a best man speech without even adding in the part about who is the screamer.’ The laughter rings out around them, and Ciel buries his reddening face into Sebastian’s shoulder, knowing that his new husband’s cheeks are burning as brightly as his own.

He’s not entirely sure he’ll ever be able to look his parents in the eye again after this.

Clearing her throat, Lizzie finishes up. ‘Okay, folks. That’s enough of me embarrassing two of my favourite men. Everyone, please raise your glasses to Ciel and Sebastian Phantomhive.’

The collective cheer rings around them, loud and happy. Sebastian turns him in his arms. ‘Congratulations, honey.’

‘Congratulations to you too-‘ he slides his mouth to his ear, delighted at the shudder as he whispers the last word, ’-Professor _Phantomhive_.’

A low groan. ‘You’re pure evil.’

‘Punish me later.’

‘With pleasure.’

As evening approaches and it comes to the first dance, even with all the lessons behind him, he still dreads it as much as a puppy dreads bath-time.

He lets Sebastian lead him with one hand to the centre of herringbone flat of the courtyard. The song is Sebastian’s choice, along with the dance, and he swore it wouldn’t be anything that could be considered too cringe-worthy. Even so, he’s positive he’s about to embarrass himself in front of everyone, because even if the ground is stable and the dance simple, his legs are shaking more than when he’d walked up to the altar.

Of all the things he’s been afraid of that day, this is the one that puts fear in his heart like no other.

A few notes of the song ring out. It’s familiar, light, happy; he’s listened to this band in the past twenty-four hours.

Amazed, he looks up, and Sebastian smiles back at him. ‘I thought you might feel more comfortable dancing to this than anything else.’

He’s pulled against his strong body as they move together to the music. As the soft guitars and the vocals ring out through the air, blocking out everything but the two of them, he starts getting into it; his steps steady, and his movements begin to flow as they mouth the words of the music together. The dance lessons are finally paying off.

Then Sebastian twirls him out, and his leg buckles underneath him.

This is what the lessons were for. It was to avoid this situation- to avoid embarrassing Sebastian on what is meant to be one of the happiest days of his life.

But the painful, humiliating landing never comes. Instead of the ground, Ciel is shocked to meet warm arms and a firm chest, holding him steady and keeping them moving as if it had never happened. He’s not even sure anyone around them noticed.

‘I’ve got you,’ Sebastian whispers, grinning as he spins him out a second time. This time it goes right, and his steps stay steady.

As he rolls back into Sebastian’s embrace as the last bars of the song ring out, he can’t stop the single happy tear that slips out. 

 

They dance together, eat and drink, socialise with their guests until everything aches.

Sat on one of the outdoor benches, Ciel just sits back for a few moments, taking in his surroundings.

Lizzie and Soma are dancing foreheads resting against the other. Joker and Beast sway together a few feet away from them, twisting and turning slowly with each other to the music. His mother and father are twirling around like they’re teenagers again, still as in-love as they were when they were young.

A long, happy sigh escapes him. The day had been a long time coming, but every minute of planning, bickering, and grief from unforeseen events had been worth it.

‘Thinking about another dance?’

He turns to the source of the voice. Sebastian hovers next to his shoulder, leaning over the bench with a slice of their wedding cake in hand. ‘I saved this for you before Sieglinde and Alois ate the entire layer.’

He hungrily eyes the blue sugar rose adorning the top of the icing. ‘I knew there was a reason I married you…cake.’

‘And sex,’ Sebastian smirks.

‘And…because even after knowing you for so long, you still make my heart skip when I see you or hear your voice.’

Sebastian’s entire expression softens, smile widening. ‘Do you remember the first time we ever talked to each other? You were a tiny little freshman in the school cafeteria who tripped over my bag and got a bloody nose.’

‘And you were sat at the popular table with people like Redmond, Violet, Greenhill, and Bluewer. And when they started laughing at me, you glared at them until they shut up.’

‘Then you turned around, gave them the middle finger and stole Violet’s cheeseburger off his plate while telling him to suck it.’

They both chuckle, falling into comfortable silence. He lets Sebastian feed him one of the sugar flowers from the slice of cake, peppering his lips with a kiss after the tiny bite, then beckons him to move around the bench.

As Sebastian settles next to him, pulling him into an embrace so he can lean on him, a wave of sleepiness hits him out of the blue. The excitement, and the pre-wedding nerves have left him ready to climb into bed and sleep away their first night as a married couple, despite the promises of all the filthy things that they planned on doing to each other that evening.

The day seems to have had the same effect on his husband as well, because Sebastian stifles a yawn as he speaks. ‘Are you as exhausted as I am?’

‘Mm. I didn’t sleep much last night because I was nervous…and because Lizzie’s bed in the spare room is pressed right against the wall of her bedroom. So I had to listen to her and Soma go at it for _an hour and a half_ before they let up. And then she was up ultra-early because of the food poisoning.’

‘Again, I’ll remind you that we’ve done worse IN her presence.’

‘Yeah, but the night before the wedding? I needed my beauty sleep!’ Ciel whines back, burying his nose in the other’s jacket.

‘You never need beauty sleep.’ He pauses. ‘Sometimes I wonder why it took me so long to see the wood for the trees.’

Ciel frowns. ’What do you mean?’

‘It took me years of dating jerks who hurt me to realise that the perfect person had been under my nose since I was fourteen.’

‘…Sebastian, sweetheart, as open as my parents are, they would have killed fourteen-year-old you for trying to date their eleven-year-old son.’

Sebastian shakes his head, smiling. ’You know what I mean. Are you mad at me? That I didn’t figure out I liked you earlier?’

His expression morphs to pure bewilderment. ‘Sebastian, how could I be mad at you? I should have said something so much earlier than when I blurted it out by accident. I should have actually told you straight that I wanted you. Even if you weren’t sure about me at the time, you might have thought twice about dating all those douchebags who hurt you. If anything, you should be mad at me.’

‘I couldn’t be mad at you about that, dummy!’ Sebastian exclaims, ‘I was the one who made the stupid decision to date those assholes in the first place.’

‘ _I_ can be mad at me, though.’

‘Not anymore. You’re my husband now. Continue beating yourself up and I’m going to have to keep you awake late into the night punishing you for it.’

Suddenly, he feels a lot more awake again.

Humming appreciatively, Ciel smirks, eyes falling half-lidded. ‘Mm. I may just have to keep doing it- make sure you punish me for all the blame at once.’

‘Nhh…don’t say that.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’ll finish the job I started in the coat closet at that infamous New Years party for everyone to hear.’

The enthusiasm springs back full-force. Ciel bites his lip, glancing through the window behind them to look at the clock on the kitchen wall. ‘…it’s nearing midnight.’

‘I’ll go say goodnight to my dad, Cinderella.’

‘Hey, I’m not losing one of my shoes. I like these shoes.’

Sebastian flits off to find his father, and Ciel rises and heads inside to the bathroom.

Finished up and standing before the sink, he can’t help but smile as he runs the towel between his damp hands. Both rings glimmer on his finger, the gems of the engagement ring catching the light, and the white metal of the wedding band seemingly glow in the low light of the bathroom as he dries around each finger. Sebastian is his husband. _His husband_. The word feels so foreign, and yet somehow familiar, like he’s been saying it for years. He’s just married the love of his life in front of their friends and family, and nothing can bring him down from this high today.

He’s almost at the bathroom door when he notices it and stops dead.

Half-sticking out of the old waste paper basket, underneath a few crushed pieces of tissue and an empty dental floss box, is a piece of white plastic with a little red cross on it.

It takes a moment to register exactly what it is he’s looking at, but once he realises, all breath leaves him.

It’s a pregnancy test.

And it’s positive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...
> 
> Shit's going down?


	18. A Secret, Uncovered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you probably saw this one coming!

It’s like he’s drifting as he heads back into the party to say goodnight to his parents. He feels like he’s suddenly privy to a secret he never wanted, and even though he almost doesn’t want to know, the second he walks out of the back door into the garden outside, his eyes dart between his friends, scrutinising their movements like a hawk after its next meal to watch for anything suspicious that might tell him who took the test.

There were a lot of people at the reception; between his colleagues, Sebastian’s colleagues, and all their friends and family, they knew a lot of people. For all he knew, whoever had taken the test could have left already. But when he went just an hour or so ago to splash his face with cold water, he hadn’t seen the test there. So if his estimate is correct, someone had taken that test within the last hour.

Which means there’s a damn good chance that whoever took it _is still at the party_.

Sieglinde is stumbling around, drunk as a skunk with a tall glass of champagne in her hand. She’s a party animal, but she isn’t stupid; if she was pregnant, she’d be holding off on the booze without a doubt. Besides, with her complaints the previous day about mind-numbing menstrual cramps, he’s relatively sure that he can tick her off the list already. His mother, Beast, and Beast’s friend Doll are all equally sloshed, and he mentally scratches each of their names off the list; none of them would drink while knowing they’re pregnant, and if his mother complaining about hot flashes is anything to go by, she’s recently moved past the childbearing part of her life.

The only two women of note who are left are his aunt Angelina, and Lizzie. He glances between the glasses in their hands, noting the contents.

Angelina is drinking a rich coloured red wine in Diedrich’s lap, pink-cheeked and giggling about something for their own upcoming nuptials.

Lizzie’s glass, on the other hand, holds a completely see-through liquid. She’s been on soft drinks and water the entire day, despite the offer of expensive champagne and Bard’s surprisingly delicious cocktails, citing the sensitive stomach from that morning as her reason for not imbibing and for shying away from too many snacks.

He’s about to shake the idea off when he catches it.

Placing her emptied glass down on the table next to her, Lizzie glances over to where Soma is laughing with Joker…then bites her lip, and presses the freed hand shakily to the front of her skirt over her belly.


	19. The Night, The Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding night, and the morning after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably end within a few, or maybe even the next chapter. This was the first fic I posted where I hadn't finished it yet, so I've been at a bit of a loss as to where I should end it.
> 
> But I think I know now!
> 
> ...I think.

He decides to keep the revelation to himself. At least for the moment, anyway, because true to the ‘threat’ laid down months ago, and having checked off every suitable surface in their hotel room, Sebastian has him in a writhing mess of quivering limbs on the sheets.

It had begun in the entranceway to the suite, pushed up against the alcove next to the door and teasing each other with fingers and lips and teeth. Sebastian had started stripping him of everything he deemed to be in his way, leaving Ciel in nought but the corset and the fitted shirt underneath while he took him slowly on the low dresser. He’d been teetering on the edge when Sebastian had stripped off the rest of both of their clothes, and sweet release hit shortly after they’d changed positions and fallen into the armchair; gripping Sebastian’s shoulders, he’d smiled ecstatically into the side of the taller’s face as he’d ridden him, relishing the feel of nails scraping euphoric lines into his thighs and hips as Sebastian thrust up into him and further encouraged the motions.

When they find the energy to tumble onto the bed, they’re both exhausted enough to sleep already.

Rolling into the other’s embrace, Ciel pouts playfully. ‘Damn…I wanted to have you, too.’

Sebastian laughs. ’It’s okay- we can nap, then go again. You promised to get me back for that little leg incident a few months ago, and I hope you intend to make good on that.’

‘Mm, definitely…you’re not going to know what’s hit you.’

Sebastian grins tiredly, resting an intricately decorated arm against the scarred centre of his torso and stroking the discoloured strip of healed skin.

He’s done it every time they’ve made love since the attack; it’s always the same three-fingered touch sliding down the thick line of distorted flesh, tracing it slowly and almost wistfully. He knows Sebastian regrets letting it happen despite not being able to control the circumstances. It’s the biggest visual reminder that they were almost parted forever that fateful night, and it’s always a place that Ciel still feels reluctant to show to anyone or even acknowledge existence of.

But as he feels that soft caress of smooth fingertips gliding over the leftover bumps from the stitches, it serves to remind him; Sebastian loves him. Sebastian has seen him broken and battered, and half-dead in a hospital bed. He’s seen him scared, upset, terrified of losing him to someone else. He’s seen him at his very worst, had ways to escape him, and yet he stayed through it all and never once looked at him any differently.

Lifting a shaky hand, Ciel smiles, and strokes tiredly down his new husband’s jaw as the other falls into a deep sleep. Sebastian loves him as unconditionally as he loves him.

It’s high time that he started trying to love himself, too.

As he follows Sebastian into slumber, he feels at ease with himself like never before.

 

They’re lucky they even make it to breakfast.

After a short nap, Sebastian had woken him up by smothering his neck in hot-mouthed kisses. Suddenly enthusiastically wide awake, Ciel had flipped his new husband onto his back, and kept up his own side of the bargain until the sun began to rise; Sebastian’s own marks of pleasure at the point of climax were still throbbing on his neck, back, and shoulders in the form of a bite-mark and several deep scratches from thoroughly returning the favour.

Birds had already begun chirruping to signal the start of the new day by the time they’d called it a night, and rising for breakfast on time had been…an effort, to say the very least; Sebastian had still been walking on very shaky legs when they’d reached their table, to the point where one of the waitresses had asked him if he was about to pass out.

The euphoria of the previous night still ebbing in the back of his head, his thoughts drift from food back to Lizzie, cradling her still pancake-flat abdomen and staring at her boyfriend across the dance floor of the garden. _What is she going to do?_

Plates full, and a cafetiere full of sweetly bitter caffeine at the centre of their table, Sebastian tiredly grasps his hand over their plates and gives it a squeeze, jolting him out of his musing. ‘You’re distracted this morning.’

‘Mm. Tired.’

The other’s brow furrows. ’Everything okay?’

He shrugs back, reaching for his orange juice. ‘Yeah…it’s just I found out something last night that I probably shouldn’t have.’

Checking for listeners, Sebastian glances from side to side. ‘Does this have anything to do with the pregnancy test in your parents’ downstairs bathroom?’ he whispers.

His eyes widen. ‘You saw it too?’

‘Yeah, and I had to discreetly ask Beast whether she was going to give my dad a grandchild before I do,’ the other nods. He reaches for the coffee pot the server placed on their table and fills their cups, then continues. ‘It’s not hers. It’s not your aunt’s- she’s a doctor, and she was _wasted_ last night…she’s not that dumb. And Sieglinde was complaining about the wedding falling on “Shark Week”, so we can presume it’s not her-‘

‘I think it’s Lizzie.’

Sebastian’s jaw drops, comprehension slowly filling his face. ‘…the being sick yesterday wasn’t food poisoning.’

He nods back. ‘I remembered in the shower…Sieg and I ate from the same noodles she did and felt fine all day. And I caught her looking at Soma and holding her stomach. I think it was morning sickness.’

‘…what do you think she’s going to do?’

Ciel shrugs and shakes his head, reaching for a slice of fresh toast. ‘I have no idea. Her parents are…uh, Frances and Alexis are…they’re a little judgemental.’

‘How judgemental?’

‘Well, they’re kind of traditional. Like, wanting all their grandchildren to be born in-wedlock. They’re not one-hundred percent happy about most of her best friends being on the LGBTQ side of things, and I’m pretty sure some kind of latent racism runs in their blood that skipped Lizzie, because they froze up when she introduced Soma to them.’ He looks up from his plate, swallowing heavily. ‘Even Edward’s iffy around him, and Soma’s the best thing that ever happened to his sister. Tell them about your dad going to prison, I wouldn’t be surprised if they covered you in dish soap and hosed you down in the yard.’

Sebastian shifts uncomfortably, and his heart sinks. _You say some fucking stupid shit, Phantomhive. IDIOT_.

He reaches back across the table and links their hands, pulling Sebastian’s closer to kiss the ring that matches his. ‘I’m sorry, that was really insensitive of me.’

‘No, it’s not that. I’m just worried they’ll do something to her like my mother did with me.’

‘Well, if they do that, she has us. She has Soma. She’s got Sieg, Alois, Thompson…she’s never going to have to go through this totally alone, whatever she chooses,’ Ciel confirms.

He watches some of the tension in Sebastian’s shoulders let up, and gives his hand another kiss. It’s endearing to him at how much like a little sister Lizzie had become to Sebastian over the years.

The first few months they’d known each other all that time ago, they’d been at each other’s throats; verbal snipes, bickering twenty-four-seven, and he’d even stated he’d rather own a yapping little chihuahua than hang out with her anymore. A bold statement considering Sebastian had a keen dislike for anything of the canine persuasion; Ciel had long since given up on the idea of ever owning a Scooby-Doo kind of mutt he’d always wanted. Not that he’d tell Sebastian that; the man would probably feel so guilty, he’d buy him a litter of pedigree Great Danes to make it up to him. And they really didn’t have the room for that.

Somewhere between the arguments, the sentiment between Sebastian and Lizzie had shifted. They’d become less antagonistic, more familial, and some protective sibling kind of instinct had kicked in. Even Soma, in all his sweetness and his own protectiveness over Lizzie, hadn’t been able to escape the scrutiny; the cheery Indian man had been thoroughly vetted for suitability from the first time he had hung out with them.

Especially after what happened to him, both with his own mother and his ex-boyfriends, Sebastian is fiercely protective over those closest to him.

Shooting him a little smile, Ciel gives his hand one final peck before letting it go. ‘She’s going to be okay, Sebastian. I promise.’

In the back of his mind, he says a little prayer to a god he’s not sure exists that he can keep that promise.


	20. Telling All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think there's about a chapter left after this. Then I'm thinking of taking a little break before writing part three. I need to focus on some other fics for a while, especially as I still have at least two oneshots for the Recovery series to finish.

Even though he already knows, Ciel still acts surprised when she invites him around for tea and quickly spills the beans.

And she sees through it _immediately_. ‘You saw the test, didn’t you?’

At very least, he bothers to look sheepish. ’…kind of. You didn’t exactly hide it well, Liz- it was poking out from under an empty box of dental floss. And it sure as shit didn’t look like an old toothbrush.’

She shakes her head, biting her lip as she stares down into a cup of ginger tea. ‘It must have happened when we took that trip to Denmark.’

‘How did it happen, though? Aren’t you on birth control pills?’

She blushes. ‘Well, yeah, but we crossed more than a few timezones getting from the States to Europe. I must have messed up the hours and forgotten a day, or taken it too late or something…and not to be too vulgar, but we were at it like bunnies those first few days.’

Ciel smothers a grimace before it can fully form, then shrugs. ‘So…what are you going to do?’

She shakes her head, shifting uncomfortably. ‘I’m nowhere near where I want to be in my career. I’ve barely saved anything for a deposit on a house. I’m not married, or even engaged, but…Ciel, I went to buy shoes yesterday and found myself looking through the maternity stuff and mentally picking stuff I’d wear. I’m not ready, but…’

‘But…?’

She looks up nervously. ‘I think…I want to keep it?’

In a way, Ciel already knew that she would say that. She’s always been a baby person. She’s the kind of person who people ask to hold their kid when they’re in a line and need the bathroom, or if there’s a crying child around, she can soothe it without batting an eyelid.

Even so, a weird feeling runs through him. _Lizzie’s going to be a mom_.

One thing still pulses in the back of his mind. ‘Have you, you know, told Soma yet?’

A head shake. ‘Not yet. I’ve been trying to think of more subtle ways to break the news than throwing a second positive test down into his bowl of cereal and saying “surprise!”.’ She chokes out a little laugh, but almost immediately it morphs into a sob.

Prising the cooled cup from between her hands, Ciel places it down on coffee table and quickly pulls his emotional friend into his embrace. ‘Hey, you’re okay. You’re going to be fine.’

‘What if- what if he leaves, Ciel? What if I tell him and he leaves me?’ She whimpers, hugging him back even harder. ‘My parents won’t want anything to do with me anymore and I don’t think I can do this by myself!’

‘You won’t have to.’

‘How can you know that?’

‘Because whatever happens, you’ll still have everyone else.’ He tilts her back into her place on the couch, steadying her with a hand on each of her forearms. ‘Me, Sebastian, Alois, Thompson, Sieg, Luka? We aren’t going to let you go this by yourself. If you need us, we’re right here!’

‘You sure?’

‘As sure as I was that I wanted to marry Sebastian.’

Suddenly the mood shifts, and the saddened, worried young woman melts away to reveal his happy friend laughing at his sentimentality once more. ‘You two are going to be really embarrassing uncles, aren’t you?’

‘Guaranteed. We’re going to be uncles to the one of the cutest kids in the entire country; it’s practically a prerequisite. It’s going to be wearing “I love my uncles’ onesies, and get taken to DisneyWorld, and dressed up in little costumes,’ he chuckles, ‘and Sebastian will probably fall asleep while babysitting with it cradled in one arm and Wanda in the other.’

‘His baby, and his little niece or nephew.’

‘I’m going to end up being the father of fifty-five cats, aren’t I?’

‘Yeah, but you knew that already, didn’t you?’

He’s about to comment back that he’ll have to buy shares in allergy medication when the sound of the front door interrupts him, and Soma trundles in with two shopping bags in either hand. He clatters through happily into the living room to where they’re sat and plunks the bags down in the centre of the coffee table with a grunt of relief. ‘THAT…was getting rather heavy. Hi, Ciel.’

‘Hey Soma. Groceries?’

‘We were out of most things. And I needed to get more ginger tea for my angel,’ the young Indian man leans across and plants a kiss on Lizzie’s forehead, ‘if she doesn’t get better by this evening, I’m booking her a doctor’s appointment.’

Lizzie glances sideways at him, and Ciel takes the hint.

 

He doesn’t go far; he barely walks fifteen metres away from Lizzie’s house.

Standing across the road, he watches through the window at the scene unfolding. While not expecting anything to go wrong, he’ll be damned if he’s going to leave if there’s the slightest chance Soma walks out.

It’s not that he thinks it is likely. He’s just not taking that chance for anything.

Through the clear divide of the glass, he watches on as Lizzie stands up and grasp Soma’s hands. Then her lips move.

Shock spreads over the other’s face, pulling his hands away from hers as the news is received, and then they move lower. He flattens a palm on Lizzie’s stomach, and his mouth moves: ‘ _A baby?_ ’

Lizzie nods. And for a moment, Soma seems to hesitate.

The apprehension and terror is written all over her face; her brow is furrowed, her lip bitten, and in front of her, her hands are quivering.

‘Come on, Soma…’ he mutters to himself, fist clenched. _Please don’t leave her_.

He doesn’t leave, though. His hand stays at her belly, then pulls away to rummage through his jacket pocket.

Ciel doesn’t catch what Soma mouths to Lizzie, but it doesn’t matter…because a second later, the Indian man has sunk down on one knee before her, holding out a little pale blue box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come on...you didn't expect me to hurt precious Lizzie, did you?


	21. New Horizons

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Hope you guys have enjoyed the ride!

‘Tickets?’

‘Left pocket.’

‘Passports?’

‘Right pocket.’

‘Keys so someone can get in and feed Wanda?’

‘Gave a spare to Soma yesterday morning. And another to Alois last night in case Soma loses it.’

Ciel sighs slowly, sinking back into the armchair next to the window as they wait for the cab. It’s finally time for their honeymoon; a week in Japan, and two weeks going around Europe awaits them just hours away, and neither of them can wait.

Especially him. He can’t wait to hear his husband’s talented tongue twist expertly around multiple languages.

Sebastian leans in the doorway, checking his watch. ‘You pack your good lenses?’

‘Of course. I want to take portraits of you everywhere.’

A grin. ‘We should take one in bed in the hotel room.’

‘…’

‘While I’m fucking you.’

An image flickers in Ciel’s head; Sebastian looming above him, smirking as sweat from exertion trickles down his toned torso at every thrust…

He groans low in his throat. Two minutes until the taxi arrives was not the best time to get turned on. ‘I’m adding that one to the list. Just remind me to remove it from the camera before I start showing my family. Last thing I need is my aunt groping you any more than she usually does because she’s seen a picture of you butt-ass naked.’

His husband opens his mouth, probably about to make some witty remark, when his phone buzzes and a car horn alerts them to the presence of their ride.

His husband winks. ‘To be continued.’

 

When they’re checked in, Sebastian wanders off to get coffee while he sits with their bags. He’s so excited, he can barely sit still.

To distract himself, he pulls out his phone, intent on checking his emails. Harcourt has already proven himself to be an incredibly valuable member of his office’s team, and while he’s not expecting any emails, it’s worth checking in.

But before he gets to his inbox, Ciel sees a little notification from Soma pop up in his messages, with a picture attachment:

_‘First sonogram- that’s my little prince or princess in there!’_

Below the words, a black and white image, labelled ‘Midford, Elizabeth E. C.’ in the top corner appears, along with the words ‘8 weeks’.

It’s barely more defined than the shape of a kidney bean, and probably only about the same size. It looks like nothing more than a speck of grey and white in a bubble of black. But the more he stares at the little mark, his heart beats faster, his eyes glazing over and his breath hitching. He doesn’t even realise he’s crying until the young woman next to him leans over and offers him a tissue.

She tilts her head as he dabs his eyes, pierced brow furrowing behind her electric blue bangs. ‘Are you alright? Do you need some water?’

He shakes his head. ‘Sorry, I’m fine. My friend just sent me the first sonogram of his baby with his fiance…I don’t know what came over me. Guess it’s just the idea of becoming an uncle.’

The girl’s face morphs into a kind smile. ‘Sometimes the most you cry is on the days where the best things happen. Congratulations.’

Over the top of her head, he catches sight of Sebastian, walking quickly with two stacked coffee cups and concern written all over his face. Suddenly, he’s reminded of the tears that had fallen the night he’d got engaged, and the ones that had trickled down his face at the wedding.

Two of the happiest days of his life, and he’d cried on both.

Eyes still focused on his lover, he nods and smiles. ‘Yeah…you’re right.’

A flight gets called, and with a quick handshake, the girl flits off. Sebastian finally reaches him, face stilled marred with worry as he hands him the coffee cup and sinks down in her abandoned seat. ‘Whose ass do I have to kick for making you cry?’

‘Hah…you’re going to have go after Soma on this one,’ he retorts, proffering his phone for appreciation.

As Sebastian looks at Lizzie’s sonogram, and then back to him with a nervous, bitten-lip smile, Ciel can pinpoint the exact moment that the same thought runs through their heads and lets the feeling of thrill, fear, and excitement flood through him.

When they get back from their honeymoon, the planning for expanding their little family begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around to the end! Sorry the last chapter is a little short, but it seems like a good place to wrap things up.
> 
> See you in the next fic!


End file.
